What I Learned After Building a Chatbot in 48 Hours

In a 48-hour self-imposed challenge, the author built a functional chatbot from scratch using Flask, OpenAI’s GPT-3.5, and Vercel. The project revealed the importance of planning conversation flows, choosing a lean tech stack, and debugging relentlessly under pressure. From rookie mistakes and deployment issues to user testing and deadline-driven focus, the experience became a crash course in conversational AI development and rapid problem-solving.