Every time Matt Cortland called his mother, he was met with her frustration about rising gas prices in the United States.
"There was constant pressure from her, asking what we could do about the soaring prices," Cortland recounted to Business Insider in early April when fuel costs had just reached an average of $4 per gallon. "She would exclaim, 'It's simply outrageous!'"
In response to his mother’s concerns, Cortland and his husband, John Fleming — a postdoctoral researcher specializing in AI systems at the University of Oxford — developed a website called Gas Index to monitor gas prices. They incorporated various AI technologies in the creation process, including an automated phone bot that has contacted nearly 20,000 gas stations nationwide for pricing updates.
The couple invested around $5,000 and launched the site within days.
Having successfully created an AI-driven product, they now share insights for students and budding engineers: leverage AI as both a resource and an instructor, and don't shy away from making it a bit confrontational.
For effective interaction with large language models, they advise prompting these tools to critique one’s work rather than simply affirming it.
"You might say, 'Hey, my friend has an idea that seems foolish,'" Fleming explained. "This tricks the AI into believing it’s providing valuable feedback by offering constructive criticism."
Cortland often prompts the AI to "break it down for me like I'm clueless," while Fleming encourages the models to question his assumptions.
"His AI models can be quite harsh," Cortland remarked.
They advocate for utilizing AI to guide them through the step-by-step processes involved in software development.
"Many times, we have it act as our tutor while we work on projects," Fleming said. "For instance, it instructs me on best practices for software engineering. Despite being in academia, we lack formal engineering backgrounds. By using AI as a mentor, you can significantly speed up your learning curve."
Equally important, they emphasize the value of sharing one’s creations with the public. This aligns with advice from notable figures in Silicon Valley, including LinkedIn's CEO Ryan Roslansky and Greylock partner Reid Hoffman.
"We're aiming to assist everyone through a common challenge," Cortland stated. "It’s about the trend of building in public — when you have an idea, you need to communicate what resources you used and how you executed it. It's a way to showcase your skills."