AI & LLMs
The feature judges remember. The differentiator that wins tracks.
AI features are what separate 'cool project' from 'this could be a real product.' Judges have seen dashboards. They've seen CRUD apps. An LLM integration that does something genuinely useful — explains a medical record in plain language, translates a legal document, routes a crisis to the right resource — that's what gets remembered. The barrier to entry is now low enough that not having an AI layer is a missed opportunity.
Don't add AI as a gimmick. 'We used ChatGPT to generate descriptions' isn't a feature. The AI should solve a real problem that would be hard to solve any other way.
Claude for nuanced, sensitive, or multilingual content (health, legal, social). GPT-4o for speed and general tasks. HuggingFace for open-source and specialized models. Vercel AI SDK if you want streaming built-in.