Talk in English - UK at PHP UK Conference
Track Name:
Fleet
View Slides: https://speakerdeck.com/conroyp/everything-is-showbiz-lessons-from-a-php-plus-ai-side-project
Short URL: https://joind.in/talk/25aeb
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This talk grew out of a side project that got wildly out of hand. I set out to build a quick Laravel app to make one of my favourite podcasts searchable - just a weekend hack, a bit of "vibe coding" to scratch an itch. Instead, it became EverythingIsShowbiz.com, a fully fledged PHP + AI transcript engine with semantic search. What started as an experiment turned into a practical crash course in where AI actually fits into PHP workflows: from managing GPU-heavy transcription jobs, to cleaning up potentially-libellous misheard phrases, making AI output trustworthy at scale, and all on a side project budget!
Along the way, I learned a lot about the gap between AI hype and engineering reality. We'll explore the messy middle - where Laravel pipelines replace notebooks, admin tools become sanity savers, and side projects quietly teach us the same lessons as production systems. This talk is for anyone who's ever been asked, "can you do that... but add AI in?" and wants to know what that really looks like in PHP.
A small reminder that PHP still belongs in the future - even when that future comes wrapped in AI.
Comments
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This was a great talk from Paul. I enjoyed the humour and the lighthearted flow through the presentation and I really resonated with the evolution of the side project and the early blockers that can put you off really starting at all. Great to see how AI was utilised here to clear those blockers and retain the enjoyment of building something whilst clearly still retaining the engineering and decision making that allows AI to be a tool not a replacement.
The talk also had a good helping of general views on AI, how we should be using it more generally which is always valuable in the ever changing landscape of tech especially with so many unanswered questions on where AI leaves us. Good to see some of the insights into keeping track of the costs thrown in too.
Thanks Paul really enjoyed this one!