Talk to an AI — cheat sheet
The one idea: An AI assistant is a collaborator who knows everything about the world and nothing about your block. Tell it about your block, make it argue with you, and ask it for finished things.
The 4 moves (work on any assistant)
- 1. Set the scene — say who you are, who you're helping, and what you want out of the conversation.
- 2. Feed it your world — paste the pillar, your notes, the real details only you know.
- 3. Make it push back — ask what's weak, what exists already, and what the smallest version is.
- 4. Ask for the artifact — a pitch, a screen list, a demo script, slides. Name the thing.
Move 1 · Cold start
Paste this first, in a fresh chat.
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I'm at a hackathon in Detroit this weekend — the 313 Buildathon. I have an idea and I need help developing it into something I can present on Tuesday. Who I'm trying to help: [one real person, one real problem]. The pillar I'm building for: [paste the pillar description]. I'm not a programmer and I don't plan to write code. Ask me questions until you actually understand the situation, then help me shape this into something small enough to finish in two days.
Move 2 · Feed it your world
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Here are my raw notes — they're messy, don't clean them up yet: [paste everything: notes, what people told you, what you saw] What do you now understand about this problem that you didn't before I pasted that?
Move 3 · Make it push back
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Be critical, not encouraging. What's weak about this idea? What already exists that does this, in Detroit or anywhere? Who would tell me this won't work, and what exactly would they say?
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I have two days and no coding experience. What's the smallest version of this that's still worth presenting to judges?
Move 4 · Ask for the artifact
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Write a one-paragraph pitch a judge could repeat back to someone else after hearing it once.
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List the 3 screens this needs. For each one: what a person sees, and the one thing they can do there.
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Outline a 3-minute demo. What do I show, in what order, and what do I say while it's on screen?
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Draft 5 slides: the problem in human terms, who it's for, the solution, how it serves the pillar, what happens after the hackathon. Headline plus at most 3 bullets each.
Habits that separate good from bad
- Reject the first answer. Say "that's too generic — be specific about the east side." It will be.
- One request at a time. Six questions in one message gets you six shallow answers.
- Say "no, more like this." Steering beats starting over.
- Never let it invent facts. If it names a program, a price, or a statistic, check it or cut it.
- Keep one chat per project. It remembers the conversation; starting fresh throws that away.
Quick reference
- Claude (
claude.ai) — free tier is plenty for this. Projects keep one idea's chats together; Artifacts render quick mockups you can look at. - ChatGPT (
chatgpt.com) — free tier works. Can generate a simple web page you can show a judge. - Gemini (
gemini.google.com) — free with any Google account. Handy if you don't have the others.
This session is free-tier friendly on all three — don't pay for anything here. When you're ready for the build days, submit the credits intake form — it's what allocates your Lovable credits. Full picture on the Builder's Kit cheat sheet.
Glossary
- Prompt — anything you type to the assistant. Not a magic incantation; just a message.
- Context — everything you've told it in this conversation. More context, better answers.
- Hallucination — when it states something false with total confidence. Assume any specific number or program name needs checking.
- Artifact / canvas — a document, page, or mockup the assistant produces alongside the chat, instead of inside it.
- Pillar — one of the city priorities from Mayor Sheffield's citizen survey. Pick one; judging weighs how well you served it.
Worked example — Warm Rides · east-side Detroit
The whole arc, in four messages. Swap in your own problem and it works the same.
1 · Cold start
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I'm at a hackathon in Detroit this weekend — the 313 Buildathon. I have an idea and I need help developing it into something I can present on Tuesday. Who I'm trying to help: my neighbor Ms. Carter is 74, lives off Mack near Chandler Park, and misses dialysis appointments because her ride falls through. Three other people on her block have the same problem. The pillar I'm building for: [paste the pillar description]. I'm not a programmer and I don't plan to write code. Ask me questions until you actually understand the situation, then help me shape this into something small enough to finish in two days.
2 · Feed it your world
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Here are my raw notes — they're messy, don't clean them up yet: - Ms. Carter: dialysis Tue/Thu/Sat, 6am pickup, needs to be back by 11 - her daughter drives when she can, works in Warren, can't do mornings - church van exists but only Sundays - she doesn't use apps, has a flip phone, will use the phone to call - two neighbors have cars and free mornings and would help if asked - nobody knows who needs what — it's all word of mouth at the block club What do you now understand about this problem that you didn't before I pasted that?
3 · Make it push back
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Be critical, not encouraging. What's weak about this idea? What already exists that does this, in Detroit or anywhere? Who would tell me this won't work, and what exactly would they say?
It will raise the real objections: liability, no-shows, why not existing paratransit, and the fact that your user can't use an app. Good. Those objections are your presentation.
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I have two days and no coding experience. What's the smallest version of this that's still worth presenting to judges?
This is where the project gets found. The answer that made this one work: stop building for the rider. Build for the block-club coordinator who already has everybody's phone number — one shared schedule, one person calling riders, drivers claiming mornings.
4 · Ask for the artifacts
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Good — that's the version. Now give me three things, one at a time. Start with a one-paragraph pitch a judge could repeat back to someone else after hearing it once.
What you walk out with
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PITCH
Warm Rides is a shared ride schedule for block clubs, built for the
person who already knows everybody. On the east side, seniors miss
dialysis and clinic appointments not because no one will drive them
but because nobody can see who needs a ride and who has a free
morning. Warm Rides gives one coordinator a simple weekly board:
riders and their standing appointments on one side, neighbors with
cars claiming mornings on the other. Riders never touch it — they
get a phone call, the way they already do. It turns a block's
goodwill into a schedule.
THE 3 SCREENS
1. The week — every ride needed this week, claimed ones in green,
unclaimed in red. The coordinator lives here.
2. Add a rider — name, phone, standing appointment, anything a
driver should know. One button.
3. Claim a morning — a neighbor picks a day and a rider. Confirms
with a text to the coordinator, not the rider.
3-MINUTE DEMO
0:00 Ms. Carter, three mornings a week, and the ride that falls
through. One photo of the block.
0:40 The real problem: goodwill with no schedule.
1:10 Walk the week screen. Show one red ride turn green.
2:00 Why it serves the pillar. Who runs it after the hackathon —
the block club already meets monthly.
2:40 What we'd need next: 20 blocks, one afternoon of training.That's a submission. No code was written.