Introduction
Discover TechTahi
Turn natural-language ideas into useful, interactive digital tools—without needing to begin as a programmer.
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TechTahi
Technology and change
Who needs AI?
1
Architecture and AutoCAD
In my family, architects saw computers and AutoCAD transform their profession. Architecture did not disappear—it continued to grow—but professionals who could not use computers risked being left behind.
2
Research and Google
When I began university in New Zealand in the early 2000s, library books were the accepted way to search and cite information. As web search became mainstream, research habits changed permanently.
Luddite context: the Luddites of 1811–1816 were skilled textile workers protesting how machinery was introduced and how it affected pay and working conditions—not simply people opposed to technology. Technology changes tasks and increases the value of people who learn new tools responsibly. I think AI will be a must-have skill in all careers.
AI skills for everyone
One session. A fast, practical, positive change.
01 · UnderstandSee why AI matters in every career.
02 · LearnUse a simple workflow anyone can follow.
03 · BuildTurn an idea into a working tool today.
04 · Leave changedWalk out ready to use AI with confidence.
My goal is to equip everyone with practical AI skills—quickly, in one session. When you walk into this lecture and when you walk out, I want you to be changed in a positive way: more capable, more confident, and ready to create.
Small nation, remarkable ideas
Let creativity shine in Aotearoa New Zealand
⚛
Ernest Rutherford
Raised in a rural farming family, he went on to transform our understanding of the atom.
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Maurice Wilkins
A New Zealand-born scientist whose work contributed to discovering the structure of DNA.
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Alan MacDiarmid
A New Zealand-born chemist whose creative research helped establish the field of conductive polymers.
New Zealand has a small population, yet its creativity has had global impact—including at least three New Zealand-born Nobel laureates. In a country that values quality of life, creativity matters even more. I want to break down the cost, technical, and confidence barriers so every good idea has the opportunity to shine.
Rationale
Digital making should be open to more people
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Open to all
Lower the entry barrier for educators, staff, creatives, and community innovators.
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Safe experimentation
Preview, test, and improve ideas in a supportive environment.
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A digital wharenui
A shared, low-cost space where people can learn, create, and exchange ideas.
Cost is an access barrier. AI subscriptions can be expensive and unaffordable for many people, making it harder to take the first step and build useful AI skills. Be creative—but be responsible: test what you create, protect sensitive information, and consider its impact on others.
People and possibilities
Useful wherever an idea needs an interface
Education and research
Activities, demonstrations, simulations, calculators, dashboards, and data exploration.
Small business and sales
Restaurant menus, bakery order tools, nail salon bookings, quotes, customer follow-ups, stock lists, and everyday business utilities.
Creative and community
Stories, maps, cultural resources, interactive media, events, games, and many more ideas.
You do not need to be a technical person. Restaurant owners, nail technicians, bakers, salespeople, educators, community leaders—and anyone with a useful idea—can benefit from this session.
Core workflow
Describe → generate → preview → improve
DescribeState the audience, purpose, inputs, outputs, and look.
GenerateTechTahi turns the request into browser-ready code.
PreviewInteract with the result and test what matters.
ImproveAsk for focused changes or use Edit GUI.
Do you like Vietnamese food? Many people love nước chấm, but even Vietnamese cooks can struggle to achieve the perfect balance. Let’s make it easy.
Example prompt: Create an interactive nước chấm recipe calculator for 1 to 50 people. Let the user choose the number of servings, then calculate the amounts of fish sauce, water, sugar, lime juice, garlic, and chilli. Include clear mixing instructions.
Digital marketing demonstration
Build a countdown timer to embed in a website
Starter prompt
Create a responsive digital-marketing countdown using sample data. Show “Flash Sale Ends Soon” and count down automatically to midnight at the end of tomorrow in the visitor’s local time. Display days, hours, minutes, and seconds with a “Shop Now” button.
Marketing uses
- Limited-time sale or special offer
- Product or campaign launch
- Event registration deadline
- Build urgency without misleading users
Introducing the Fix-Code Query button
One working idea can fit many businesses
1
Improve the look
Request stronger typography, brand colours, better spacing, animation, and a polished mobile layout.
2
Change the business
Turn the flash sale into a bakery offer, restaurant event, nail salon promotion, product launch, or registration deadline.
3
Refine the action
Change the headline, deadline, offer, button label, destination, and message shown when time expires.
Use Fix-Code Query: enter this change request to improve the code you already generated: “Turn the countdown into a bakery weekend sale. Use warm cream and chocolate colours, elegant typography, a subtle pulsing timer, the headline ‘Weekend Treat Box’, and an ‘Order Now’ button.”
Keep control of what you create
Build once, then save, reopen, improve, and share
1
Save
Download the generated tool as an HTML file. Keep useful versions as you experiment so your work is not lost.
2
Load
Open a saved HTML file in TechTahi later to preview it, continue working, or make another version.
3
Edit
Use Edit to change visible text, colours, spacing, sizing, and layout directly in the interface.
4
Share
Publish a useful result to the Shared Repository so others can view, learn from, and reuse the idea.
A practical cycle: Save before major changes → Load when you return → Edit until it works well → Share only when it is tested and safe. Remove personal or confidential information before sharing.
A resource-conscious AI workflow
Build once, use many
AI runs on costly computing infrastructure and consumes significant power and resources. Instead of asking AI to repeat the same task every time, use it to build a reusable tool that can run directly in your browser.
What is deep learning?
Understand the computational foundation behind modern AI and why training and running models require substantial resources.
Explore deep learning ↗How does an LLM run?
See what happens behind a simple prompt—from data centres and model computation to the generated response.
Explore how LLMs run ↗What are the risks?
Recognise limitations, privacy concerns, resource costs, and the need to review AI-generated work responsibly.
Explore LLM risks ↗The goal: invest AI effort once, then reuse the result locally with little or no repeated AI computation. This works only when the finished page is self-contained and does not call an AI or online service during each use.
Local-first examples
Keep private content separate from the creative prompt
Breadth
One workflow, many forms of output
Images and media
Filters, transforms, audio, animation, icons, and ready-made assets.
Meaningful applications
Interactivity can make abstract ideas tangible
Learning by manipulating
Use Tower of Hanoi, recursive trees, live graphs, or simulations to expose patterns and decisions.
Culturally grounded creation
Develop language, story, mapping, and community resources with appropriate consultation and care.
Technology is most valuable when the activity serves a real learning or community purpose.
Digital marketing prompt examples
State the purpose, inputs, actions, and output
🎨 Brand Colour Palette Generator
Create a brand colour-palette generator. Let users choose a base colour, generate coordinated colours, check text contrast, and copy HEX and RGB values. Include palette export and an accessible responsive layout.
▦ QR Code Generator
Create a professional QR-code generator. Let users enter text or a URL, choose colours and size, and optionally add a local logo. Include validation, preview, and PNG and SVG downloads.
Why these prompts work: each names what the user enters, what the tool must do, what it should produce, and important quality or safety constraints.
Copy Enhance Query
Use enhancement to reveal missing detail—not to surrender judgment
Good use
Expand a short idea into clearer functionality, layout, accessibility, and error-handling requirements.
Then review
Remove assumptions, jargon, unnecessary scope, and anything that changes your intent.
Complex systems
TechTahi is strongest for prototypes and browser-based tools
Strong fit
- Single-page utilities
- Teaching demonstrations
- Interactive prototypes
- Local data exploration
Engineering still matters
- Authentication and permissions
- Databases and multi-user systems
- Security-critical workflows
- Long-term maintenance and compliance
Before using or sharing
AI is a double-edged tool—use it with integrity
Correct?
Test calculations, edge cases, links, claims, and generated code. A confident result can still be wrong.
Safe and lawful?
Check data flows, security, permissions, privacy, copyright, fairness, and potential harm to other people.
Responsible?
Use good judgement, honesty, care, and respect. Do not use AI to deceive, exploit, discriminate, or cause harm.
Your responsibility: You are responsible for deciding how to use, test, deploy, and share anything created with TechTahi. TechTahi and its creator provide a learning and prototyping tool; they do not review or endorse generated code and do not assume responsibility for loss, harm, unlawful use, or other consequences arising from its use. For consequential applications, obtain appropriate technical, security, privacy, legal, or professional review.
Choose a next experiment
Start small, useful, and testable
Digital marketing
Create content, campaign tools, brand assets, previews, and everyday utilities for a small business.
Everyday work
Build a calculator, formatter, checklist, or local search tool.
Creative practice
Build an interactive map, audio toy, image tool, or story interface.
Ask: Who is it for? What should they be able to do? How will I know it works?
Take-away
TechTahi helps more people move from “I have an idea” to “I have something I can test.”
Remember
Describe clearly. Preview critically. Refine deliberately. Protect sensitive data.
Questions or suggestions?
What could this workflow make possible in your teaching, work, or community?