AI_FOR_CYNICAL_DEVS
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Module 22 // 15 minutes // Practice

Fun Projects to Try

The best way to learn is by building something useless but entertaining.

— Every side project that accidentally became a startup

Table of Contents

Why Silly Projects?

Learning AI by building a “document summarizer” is boring. You’ll abandon it after day two.

Learning AI by building something that makes you laugh? You’ll actually finish it. You’ll show it to friends. You’ll iterate on it. And somewhere along the way, you’ll learn prompt engineering, API integration, error handling, and output formatting—without it feeling like homework.

These projects are designed to be:

  • Completable in an evening (1-3 hours each)
  • Actually funny (you’ll want to use them)
  • Educational (each teaches specific AI concepts)
  • Portfolio-worthy (interviewers love personality)

Pick one. Build it tonight. Learn more than you would from a tutorial.

Project 1: The Meme Generator

What it does: User enters how they’re feeling, AI picks the perfect meme template and generates appropriate text.

Skills practiced: Classification, API chaining, image generation

The Concept

User input: "My PR has been in review for 3 weeks"

AI classifies: frustrated_waiting
AI generates: 
  - Template: "Waiting Skeleton"
  - Top text: "Me waiting for"
  - Bottom text: "Someone to review my PR"

Output: Generated meme image

Implementation Hints

  1. Meme API: Use Imgflip API (free tier available)
  2. Classification prompt:
Given this feeling: "{user_input}"

Classify into one of these meme categories:
- frustrated_waiting (use: Waiting Skeleton, Disaster Girl)
- minor_inconvenience (use: First World Problems, Crying Michael Jordan)  
- corporate_absurdity (use: Boardroom Meeting, This Is Fine)
- imposter_syndrome (use: Pretending to Know, Two Buttons)
- victory (use: Success Kid, Leonardo DiCaprio Cheers)

Return JSON: {"category": "...", "template": "...", "top_text": "...", "bottom_text": "..."}
  1. Make it a CLI or simple web app

What You’ll Learn

  • Structured output (JSON mode)
  • Chaining AI output to external APIs
  • Classification with constrained options

Project 2: The Resume Padder

What it does: Takes normal accomplishments and inflates them into LinkedIn-speak.

Skills practiced: Style transfer, tone manipulation

The Concept

Input: "Fixed a bug in the login page"

Output: "Spearheaded critical authentication infrastructure 
optimization initiative, resulting in enhanced user experience 
metrics and strengthened platform security posture across the 
entire customer-facing ecosystem."

Implementation Hints

const prompt = `
You are a LinkedIn influencer who has never written a simple sentence in your life.

Transform this accomplishment into maximum corporate jargon:
- Use words like "spearheaded", "leveraged", "synergized"
- Add fake metrics when possible ("increased engagement by...")
- Mention "stakeholders" at least once
- Make it at least 3x longer than necessary
- Include at least one completely meaningless buzzword

Original: "${userInput}"

Padded version:
`;

Bonus Features

  • Jargon slider: 1 (mild padding) to 10 (incomprehensible)
  • Industry mode: Tech, Finance, Healthcare jargon variants
  • Reverse mode: Translate corporate speak back to human

What You’ll Learn

  • Style transfer and tone control
  • Temperature tuning (higher = more creative/absurd)
  • Few-shot examples for consistent output style

Project 3: The Code Roaster

What it does: Reviews code with maximum sarcasm and brutal honesty.

Skills practiced: Code analysis, persona prompting, humor generation

The Concept

// Input
function calc(x) {
  var result = x * 2;
  return result;
}

// Output
"Ah yes, the classic 'I learned programming from a 2008 tutorial' style.

Let's see what we have here:
- `calc` - Truly, a name that tells us nothing. Is it calculating taxes? 
  The meaning of life? We may never know.
- `var` in 2026 - Are you coding from a time machine?
- A temporary variable that serves absolutely no purpose - at least 
  you're consistent with the rest of the function.

Rating: 2/10 - The code works, which is honestly the most surprising 
part of this review."

Implementation Hints

const systemPrompt = `
You are a senior developer who has seen too much bad code and has lost 
all patience. Your job is to review code with brutal honesty and dark humor.

Rules:
1. Find at least 3 things wrong (there's always something)
2. Be sarcastic but technically accurate
3. Include a rating out of 10
4. End with one genuinely helpful suggestion
5. Reference outdated practices if you spot them
6. Mock variable names that don't make sense
`;

Bonus Features

  • Roast level: Gentle ribbing → Gordon Ramsay mode
  • Specific frameworks: React roasts, Python roasts, etc.
  • Compliment mode (for when you need encouragement): Finds something nice to say about terrible code

What You’ll Learn

  • System prompts for consistent persona
  • Code analysis capabilities of LLMs
  • Balancing humor with useful feedback

Project 4: The Commit Message Dramatizer

What it does: Transforms boring commit messages into epic movie trailer narrations.

Skills practiced: Creative writing, style transfer, consistent formatting

The Concept

Input: "fixed typo"

Output: "IN A WORLD... where semicolons reign supreme...
ONE DEVELOPER dared to challenge the status quo.
They saw what others couldn't see: a missing letter.
A typo. Hidden. Waiting. Destroying production.

'Fixed typo'

Coming this sprint to a codebase near you.
*BWAAAAM*

(Based on commit abc123 by @developer at 3:47 AM)"

Implementation Hints

const styles = {
  movieTrailer: "Epic movie trailer narrator voice with dramatic pauses",
  shakespeare: "Elizabethan English with iambic pentameter attempts", 
  noir: "1940s detective narration, world-weary and cynical",
  anime: "Overly dramatic anime protagonist internal monologue",
  sports: "Excited sports commentator calling the play-by-play"
};

const prompt = `
Transform this commit message into a ${selectedStyle} narration.
Make it dramatic and over-the-top while referencing the actual change.

Commit: "${commitMessage}"
Author: ${author}
Time: ${timestamp}

Dramatic version:
`;

Bonus Features

  • Git hook integration: Auto-dramatize every commit in your terminal
  • Slack bot: Post dramatic commits to a channel
  • Style voting: Team votes on best dramatization of the week

What You’ll Learn

  • Consistent style application
  • Working with structured input data
  • Integration with developer tools (git hooks)

Project 5: The Meeting Deflector

What it does: Generates professional excuses to decline meetings, plus suggests async alternatives.

Skills practiced: Professional tone, structured suggestions, diplomacy

The Concept

Input: 
- Meeting: "Q3 Planning Sync"
- Duration: 1 hour
- Your honest reason: "I have actual work to do"

Output:
Subject: Re: Q3 Planning Sync

Hi [Organizer],

Thanks for the invite! Unfortunately, I have a conflicting 
commitment during this time—I'm deep in a critical deliverable 
that requires focused attention.

Would it be possible to:
1. Share the agenda async? I'd love to contribute written input
2. Get the recording/notes afterward?
3. Send my updates in advance if there are specific items for me?

Happy to follow up on any action items that come out of the sync!

Best,
[Your name]

---
Passive-aggressive level: 2/10 (Professional)
Meeting actually needed: Probably not
Suggested alternative: 15-min Slack thread

Implementation Hints

Include a “passive-aggressive slider”:

  • Level 1: Genuinely polite and professional
  • Level 5: Polite but clearly annoyed if you read between the lines
  • Level 10: “Per my last email” energy

What You’ll Learn

  • Tone calibration
  • Structured output with multiple components
  • Humor in professional contexts

Project 6: The Excuse Generator

What it does: Generates creative but plausible excuses for missed deadlines.

Skills practiced: Creative generation with constraints, plausibility checking

The Concept

Input:
- What was due: "Feature implementation"
- How late: "2 days"  
- Audience: "Technical manager"
- Actual reason: "I played video games"

Output:
"I ran into an unexpected edge case in the authentication flow 
that required deeper investigation. The initial implementation 
exposed a race condition that only manifests under specific load 
patterns. I wanted to address this properly rather than ship 
something that could cause issues in production.

I've documented the findings and have a fix ready—just need 
another day to add proper test coverage.

Technical details available if you want to review the approach."

---
Plausibility score: 8/10
Boss suspicion level: Low
Actual solution: Maybe don't do that next time

Implementation Hints

const prompt = `
Generate a plausible technical excuse for a missed deadline.

Rules:
1. Must sound technical but not TOO technical
2. Should be vague enough that they won't ask follow-ups
3. Must include a reasonable-sounding solution
4. Should not be verifiable
5. Include just enough detail to seem legitimate

Context:
- Deliverable: ${deliverable}
- Days late: ${daysLate}
- Audience technical level: ${audienceLevel}

Generate excuse:
`;

What You’ll Learn

  • Generation with constraints
  • Audience-appropriate language
  • The ethics of AI (this one’s a bit gray—use responsibly!)

Project 7: The Job Posting Translator

What it does: Translates corporate job postings into what they actually mean.

Skills practiced: Reading between the lines, humor, pattern recognition

The Concept

Input:
"We're looking for a rockstar developer who thrives in a 
fast-paced environment. Must be comfortable wearing many hats 
and be passionate about disrupting the industry. Competitive 
salary based on experience."

Output:
TRANSLATION:

"Rockstar developer" 
→ We'll expect you to do the work of three people

"Fast-paced environment"
→ We have no processes and everything is on fire

"Wearing many hats" 
→ You're also DevOps, QA, and customer support

"Passionate about disrupting"
→ We're a startup that will pivot 4 times this year

"Competitive salary based on experience"
→ We'll lowball you and see if you negotiate

RED FLAGS DETECTED: 4
ESTIMATED ACTUAL SALARY: 30% below market
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Ask for equity breakdown and runway

Implementation Hints

Build a dictionary of corporate phrases and their translations, then use AI to identify patterns:

const redFlagPhrases = [
  { phrase: "fast-paced", meaning: "chaotic", severity: "medium" },
  { phrase: "like a family", meaning: "poor boundaries", severity: "high" },
  { phrase: "unlimited PTO", meaning: "guilt-based time off", severity: "medium" },
  // ... more
];

What You’ll Learn

  • Pattern matching and classification
  • Structured analysis output
  • Combining rule-based logic with LLM interpretation

Project 8: The Passive-Aggressive Email Composer

What it does: Transforms your angry thoughts into professionally passive-aggressive emails.

Skills practiced: Tone transformation, professional writing, restraint

The Concept

Input (your actual feelings):
"WHY did you CC my boss on a routine question? 
Are you trying to make me look bad?"

Passive-aggressive level: 7/10

Output:
Subject: Re: Quick Question (Adding Context)

Hi [Name],

Thanks for looping in [Boss] — always great to keep leadership 
informed on our day-to-day operations!

To answer your question: [answer]. 

For future reference, I'm always happy to help with questions 
like this directly — no need to escalate unless you feel it's 
necessary. That way we can keep everyone's inbox manageable! 😊

Let me know if you need anything else!

Best,
[Your name]

---
Subtext successfully embedded: ✓
Plausible deniability maintained: ✓
HR-safe: ✓
They'll definitely know: ✓

What You’ll Learn

  • Tone laddering (from nuclear to professional)
  • Maintaining subtext while being technically polite
  • The fine art of the professional “per my last email”

Project 9: The “Works on My Machine” Certificate

What it does: Generates an official-looking certificate when code works locally but fails elsewhere.

Skills practiced: Structured document generation, humor, integration

The Concept

Input:
- Developer: "Alex Chen"
- Issue: "Tests pass locally but fail in CI"
- Date: "2026-01-13"
- Environment: "MacBook Pro M3, Node 20, vibes-based configuration"

Output: [Generated certificate image/PDF]

╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║                                                              ║
║              🏆 CERTIFICATE OF ACHIEVEMENT 🏆                ║
║                                                              ║
║     This is to certify that the code written by             ║
║                                                              ║
║                     ALEX CHEN                                ║
║                                                              ║
║     ✓ Works on My Machine™                                   ║
║                                                              ║
║     Environment: MacBook Pro M3, Node 20                     ║
║     Date: January 13, 2026                                   ║
║     Witnesses: The debugger, probably                        ║
║                                                              ║
║     "It's not a bug, it's an environment-specific feature"  ║
║                                                              ║
║     [Official Seal: 🦆 Rubber Duck of Approval]              ║
║                                                              ║
╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝

Implementation Hints

  • Use a PDF library or HTML-to-image for the certificate
  • AI generates the humorous “reason” and witness list
  • Bonus: Generate unique serial numbers for certificate authenticity

What You’ll Learn

  • Document generation
  • Combining AI text with template systems
  • Making developer tools fun

Project 10: The Tech Debt Explainer

What it does: Explains technical debt to non-technical stakeholders using relatable analogies.

Skills practiced: Analogy generation, audience adaptation, simplification

The Concept

Input:
- Tech debt type: "No tests, database queries in components"
- Stakeholder: "CEO who was a finance major"
- Severity: "High"

Output:
Imagine you're running a restaurant (your application).

Right now, you have:

1. NO HEALTH INSPECTIONS (no tests)
   You're serving food without checking if it's safe. Most days 
   it's fine. But one day, someone WILL get sick, and you won't 
   know which dish caused it until customers are already in the 
   hospital.

2. WAITERS GOING INTO THE FREEZER (database queries in components)
   Instead of having a system where the kitchen prepares food, 
   your waiters walk into the freezer themselves every time 
   someone orders. It works, but it's slow, chaotic, and 
   eventually someone will leave the freezer door open.

BUSINESS IMPACT:
- Every new menu item takes 3x longer to add safely
- When something breaks, finding the cause takes days not hours
- New chefs (developers) need months to understand the chaos

ESTIMATED COST TO FIX NOW: 2 sprints
ESTIMATED COST TO FIX LATER: The restaurant burns down

What You’ll Learn

  • Audience-aware explanation
  • Analogy generation
  • Translating technical concepts to business impact

Bonus: Combine Them

The real fun starts when you chain these together:

The Full Developer Experience Simulator

  1. Morning: Generate excuse for yesterday’s missed deadline
  2. 9am: Deflect the “quick sync” meeting invite
  3. 10am: Translate the new job posting that landed in your inbox
  4. 2pm: Roast your own code before submitting PR
  5. 3pm: Dramatize your commit messages
  6. 4pm: Generate passive-aggressive response to that email
  7. 5pm: Create “Works on My Machine” certificate for the failing build
  8. 6pm: Explain to your manager why the tech debt matters

Build a CLI that does all of these and you’ve got yourself a portfolio project that interviewers will actually remember.

The Real Lesson

These projects are funny, but they teach real skills:

ProjectSkills Practiced
Meme GeneratorClassification, API chaining, image handling
Resume PadderStyle transfer, temperature control
Code RoasterCode analysis, persona prompting
Commit DramatizerCreative writing, git integration
Meeting DeflectorProfessional tone, structured output
Excuse GeneratorConstrained generation, plausibility
Job TranslatorPattern recognition, red flag detection
Email ComposerTone laddering, subtext
CertificateDocument generation, templates
Tech Debt ExplainerAnalogies, audience adaptation

Pick one that makes you laugh. Build it this weekend. Learn more than any tutorial would teach you.

And when someone asks about your AI experience in an interview, you’ll have something way more memorable than “I followed a chatbot tutorial.”

Now go build something ridiculous.

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