So, I am returning after more than a year. I was busy crossing continents, re-exploring the land that I left as a toddler, and trying to transition into an adult – all literally 🙂. Meanwhile, I completed my freshman year.

In the digital world, mastering the creation of intuitive applications capable of processing user input and delivering intelligent responses is a highly valuable skill. Together with my friend Aditya, I developed a versatile AI web application using Python, LangChain, OpenAI API, and Streamlit, showcasing the powerful capabilities of modern AI and web development tools. Our AI tool was chosen as the best project by our data science club.

Data Science AI project at University of Michigan
Presenting our project at the Michigan Data Science Club

About the application

Leveraging powerful tools like Python, LangChain, the OpenAI API, and Streamlit, we developed this application that not only allows users to upload files but also delivers responses based on the provided data by harnessing the capabilities of ChatGPT. Python’s robust library ecosystem forms our application’s backbone. LangChain, a library designed for building language model applications, integrates seamlessly with the OpenAI API. This enables us to create sophisticated language processing functionalities. Using LangChain, we can handle a variety of text-based tasks, such as parsing, querying, and generating responses.

At the heart of our application is the OpenAI API, which powers the natural language processing capabilities. By integrating this API, our application can understand user queries, analyze uploaded files, and generate meaningful responses. Whether it’s a document, spreadsheet, or any another type of file, the application reads the content, processes it, and provides users with relevant information and answers their questions.

To bring this functionality to the web, we utilized Streamlit, a user-friendly framework for building interactive web applications. Streamlit allows for rapid development and deployment, making it easy to create a clean and responsive user interface. Users can effortlessly upload files through the web interface. The application processes the input in real-time, displaying the results instantly.


The Experience of Developing the Application

Building this application was not just about coding and development. It was a journey filled with learning, collaboration, and fun moments.  We both spent several days working tirelessly on this project, often staying up late night fueled by caffeine and excitement. We fully utilized our dorm’s group study rooms, transforming them into temporary coding hubs. What many programmers would attest to is the immense rush of adrenaline in the moment of breakthrough when a particularly tricky piece of code finally worked or when we figured out how to optimize a function. These moments were often followed by celebratory snacks and loud music. The late-night coding sessions also included deep conversations about our aspirations, hearty laughters, and the occasional warnings of missing coursework deadlines.

This project was also a great introduction to my first club, the Michigan Data Science Team (MDST). MDST was a pivotal experience for me, introducing me to the world of data science and machine learning. The club is a community of like-minded individuals passionate about data and its potential to solve real-world problems. Through MDST, I learned more about the field of data science and its industry applications through project leads and executives who have accumulated a lot of practical knowledge over the years. The skills and knowledge I gained from MDST are invaluable, providing a strong foundation that I continue to build upon.


The Day of the Presentation

One of the most memorable parts of this journey was presenting our application to the club audience for the first time. I was both excited and nervous as I stood in front of a room full of people, ready to showcase what we had built. As I walked through the features and functionalities, I could see the interest and curiosity on the faces of our audience and hoped it would remain so. The questions and feedback we received were encouraging, reaffirming our feeling of accomplishment upon completing the application. 

It was also interesting to see the other applications built by students like calorie tracker assistant or travel planners using the same technologies. After everyone had finished, I was amazed to see that we had won the best presentation award! As the club president called us to the stage to congratulate us, he gave us accolades of excelling in our freshman year and encouraged us to keep our minds curious and continue to build more projects.

Building this web application has been an exciting journey, showcasing the power of modern AI and web development tools. This was not only a technical learning experience, but also a self-development opportunity, which made me realize the potential of learning and working at a university with like-minded individuals and supporting mentors. Whether you’re a developer looking to create similar applications or a user seeking intelligent file analysis, this project highlights the incredible potential of integrating advanced AI with web technologies. The journey of creating this application, filled with collaboration, learning, and personal growth, is something I will always cherish.


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