Build an AI chatbot from scratch for your portfolio
Details
90 mins. Zero setup. One working AI chatbot you can actually deploy and show employers.
Location: Pleasants Provisions 830 W 4th ST, Winston-Salem, NC
No installation, no setup - just code. Learn RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) by building a chatbot that answers questions about any document you upload. Walk out with working code for your portfolio. Beginners welcome! 🤖
What you'll build:
- 🤖 AI chatbot with document search (RAG)
- 🔍 Web search integration
- 💬 Conversation memory
- 🌐 Professional web interface
- ☁️ Cloud-deployed application
What you'll learn:
- 📊 RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation)
- 🔢 Vector embeddings & semantic search
- 🏗️ Building production AI systems
- ☁️ Cloud deployment with Replit
- 💼 Portfolio-ready code
Why attend:
- ✅ Zero installation - runs in browser
- ✅ Beginner-friendly with real depth
- ✅ Portfolio project by end
- ✅ Free forever after workshop (via Ollama!)
- ✅ Hands-on coding, not slides
What you need:
- 💻 Laptop with web browser
- 🆓 Free accounts (we'll set up together)
- 🧠 Curiosity and willingness to code
- ⏱️ 90 mins of focused learning
Your instructor:
Gus Cavanaugh runs hands-on AI workshops across Winston-Salem with a simple philosophy: drag people through the glass.
Instead of abstractions and slide decks, you'll experience the actual challenges of building AI systems - then understand why modern tools are so powerful. It's the difference between being told "cars have engines" and actually popping the hood before you start driving.
Gus brings enterprise AI experience to accessible, rigorous education that respects your intelligence and your time.
This is an educational demo created for AI literacy workshops in Winston-Salem, NC.
NOT affiliated with Dairi-O restaurant.
Feel free to use this as a template for your own branded chatbots, but:
- Don't claim affiliation with brands you don't represent
- Always include disclaimers
- Use for educational purposes
- Replace branding when adapting for other businesses