The Accidental Developer: How I Built Useful Tools Without Knowing How to Code

Ever wanted a searchable database of every exam question you’ve ever written (or some other custom database)? Or wanted to estimate your personal digital footprint quickly? Or wished you could caption a video locally by dropping it into a folder and waiting a bit, no fuss beyond a one-time setup?

This summer, I built exactly these tools, and more, with zero programming background, nothing but conversation with AI, and a fair amount of patience. I’ll demo all three live and give you an honest starting point for building your own.

First is a searchable AI Comparison Database, emerging from a simple idea: run the same prompt through many different AI models, cloud and local, and rate what comes back. I’ll demo it with a bag of Doritos instead of chemistry exam questions, because comparing snacks is more interesting to most folks (plus, MacGyver). Setup is identical either way, though text gave me less grief than chemistry equations and structures.

Next is a Digital Footprint Auditor, born from my interest in AI literacy and ethics: it helps everyday consumers see what their digital activity reveals and think critically about what they’re using, why, and whether it’s worth it.

Last is a portable captioning tool: drop a video into a watched folder, wait a bit, and it returns with captions I can toggle on or off, a transcript in normal paragraph form, and a personalized watermark merged in. Fix an error in the transcript, save it, and a corrected video appears in seconds.

None of this required prior coding experience, just curiosity, a willingness to iterate with AI as a collaborator, and a habit of asking, could I just build this myself. You’ll leave with a realistic sense of what’s buildable without a CS degree. Your only limitation is your imagination.

Speaker Biography

Jacqueline Bennett (Jacs) is Professor of Chemistry at SUNY Oneonta, where she has taught organic and general chemistry since 2006. A green chemistry researcher with two patents and publications in the Journal of Chemical Education and Green Chemistry, she received the American Chemical Society’s Committee on Environmental Improvement Award for Incorporating Sustainability into Chemistry Education, and was named a regional Inventor of the Year. She presented “From Skeptic to Supporter: One Professor’s AI Journey” at the AI Academy this past June and was named to the inaugural cohort of Provost AI & Society Innovators.

Jacs ran her first AI prompt this past January, began an intentional deep dive into AI in May, and has since turned that same bench-scientist curiosity toward building with AI as a hands-on collaborator. With no programming background, she has built a growing toolkit, including courseware, searchable databases, software utilities, and other tools, entirely through conversation with AI.

Jacs describes herself as an accidental developer: someone who set out to solve small, practical problems and ended up with a working toolkit. She’s looking forward to showing colleagues what’s possible and helping them find their own starting point.