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Cover image for My HNG Internship Journey: Stage 3 — Building an AI-Powered Text Processing Interface
Alabi Temitope
Alabi Temitope

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My HNG Internship Journey: Stage 3 — Building an AI-Powered Text Processing Interface

Two weeks ago, I completed Stage 3 of the HNG Internship. The task was to build a chat-style AI text processor using Chrome’s AI APIs for summarization, translation, and language detection. Here’s my experience.


Task Requirements

  • Create a chat-like interface where users input text and see outputs above.
  • Integrate Chrome’s AI APIs for translation (English, Portuguese, Spanish, etc.), language detection, and summarization.
  • Ensure accessibility, responsive design, and error handling.
  • Render action buttons (Summarize/Translate) based on text length and language.

Live Demo:

https://chattextgen.vercel.app/


Execution & Challenges

What Worked:

  • Successfully integrated Google’s Translator API for translating text and detecting languages.
  • Added a hover-to-translate feature: three dots appear on text hover, letting users translate to preferred languages.
  • Designed a responsive UI that works on mobile and desktop.

Struggles:

  1. Summarization API Issues: Chrome’s Summarizer API repeatedly failed during testing. I tried multiple free alternatives, but none worked reliably. For now, summarization is incomplete.
  2. Tight Deadline: Built this in days while balancing work commitments. Compromised on some edge cases to meet the deadline.
  3. Error Handling: Implementing clear error messages for API failures required extra debugging time.

Outcome & Lessons

The app works for translation and language detection but lacks summarization. I’ll revisit this later with better APIs.

What I Learned:

  • Async JavaScript and API error handling are critical.
  • Accessibility (ARIA labels, keyboard navigation) takes patience but is worth it.
  • Time management is key with complex tasks.

Future Improvements

  • Find a reliable free summarization API.
  • Refine the UI for better visual feedback.
  • Add more languages and optimize performance.

Links to My Work

GitHub Repo: https://github.com/toptech5419/myHNGInternship-journey.git

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/toptech5419/

X (Twitter): https://x.com/Toptech5419

Medium: https://medium.com/@alabitemitope51


This stage taught me resilience in problem-solving. Onward to the next challenge!

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