Joe Attardi

Joe Attardi is a software developer from Massachusetts. He has worked with companies such as Synopsys, Salesforce, Constant Contact, and Dell to build engaging frontend experiences. He has worked extensively with Java, JavaScript, and web technologies for over 20 years. Joe is the author of several books from Apress and O'Reilly Media and also writes freelance articles on the topic of web development.

projects by Joe Attardi

Building an AI Voice Assistant

4 weeks · 4-6 hours per week average · INTERMEDIATE

AI is the future—and Smart Solutions, Inc. knows it! That’s why they’ve called on you to build EchoBuddy, a new AI-powered voice assistant designed to help their customers interact with smart-home technology more effectively. In this liveProject series, you’ll build EchoBuddy with standard web technologies combined with third-party API services and OpenAI’s powerful industry-leading GPT model. You’ll work with the Web Speech API to capture user queries and generate spoken responses, and utilize the SvelteKit framework, the OpenAI JavaScript library, and Tailwind CSS to build an intuitive and attractive app with rich UI widgets.


This series requires use of the OpenAI platform, which is a paid service. For the purposes of this series, $5 should be sufficient.

Movie Information

1 week · 4-6 hours per week · INTERMEDIATE

In this liveProject, you’ll give AI assistant EchoBuddy a new superpower: becoming a movie expert. Your task is to transform the AI assistant into a comprehensive entertainment guide that can answer questions about everything from current theatrical releases to actor filmographies. Using the TMDB API, you'll enable EchoBuddy to respond to natural language queries about movies playing now, help users discover an actor's most popular works, and provide detailed information about specific films, complete with visual elements like movie posters and actor photos.


This liveProject requires use of the OpenAI platform, which is a paid service. For the purposes of this project, $5 should be sufficient.

News and Stock Quotes

1 week · 4-6 hours per week · INTERMEDIATE

In this liveProject, you’ll transform the basic EchoBuddy AI assistant into a comprehensive information hub that can deliver breaking news headlines and stock market data through natural conversation. You'll integrate with NPR's news feed to provide the latest stories, implement stock tracking using the polygon.io API to fetch market prices and create sleek visual widgets that display both news and financial data.


This liveProject requires use of the OpenAI platform, which is a paid service. For the purposes of this project, $5 should be sufficient.

Weather

1 week · 4-6 hours per week · INTERMEDIATE

In this liveProject, you’ll enhance the AI-powered voice assistant EchoBuddy with weather capabilities. Your challenge is to transform EchoBuddy from a basic chatbot into a sophisticated weather assistant that can respond to natural language queries like "What's the weather in Boston?" with accurate forecasts. You'll start with static data integration, then progress to working with the OpenWeather API, implement geocoding to handle any location request, and finally create an intuitive weather widget that displays conditions visually in the browser.


This liveProject requires use of the OpenAI platform, which is a paid service. For the purposes of this project, $5 should be sufficient.

Basic Voice Chatbot

1 week · 4-6 hours per week · INTERMEDIATE

In this liveProject, you’ll create an MVP of a very basic voice chatbot for Smart Solutions, Inc.'s new AI tool EchoBuddy. You'll begin by creating the foundational app with a simple text input, then integrate OpenAI's chat completion API to enable intelligent responses. Next, you'll add voice capabilities using the Web Speech API, allowing users to speak their queries and hear spoken responses. Finally, you'll expand EchoBuddy's abilities by connecting to external services, including a fun integration with an API that serves up dad jokes on demand.


This liveProject requires use of the OpenAI platform, which is a paid service. For the purposes of this project, $5 should be sufficient.