Inspiration We wanted to create a privacy-focused research assistant that helps users learn more effectively while browsing. Rather than sending data to external servers, we leveraged Chrome's built-in AI to provide intelligent analysis of web content directly in the browser.
What it does Ward Bot allows users to ask questions about any webpage and receive AI-powered answers with highlighted text, personalized explanations through custom analogies based on user interests, and AI-generated study materials like summaries and quiz questions - all processed locally for privacy.
How we built it Built as a Chrome Extension (Manifest V3) using JavaScript, HTML, and CSS. We integrated Chrome's experimental LanguageModel API for local AI processing, implemented content scripts for DOM manipulation and highlighting, and used TreeWalker API for efficient text matching with fallback strategies.
Challenges we ran into Getting Chrome's LanguageModel API to work consistently across different page structures, implementing reliable text highlighting that works with various DOM structures, managing AI response quality and character limits (15,000 chars), and ensuring XSS-safe processing of user inputs.
Accomplishments that we're proud of Successfully creating a privacy-first AI research tool that works entirely locally, implementing smart text matching with fallback strategies, building a clean UI that integrates seamlessly with web pages, and creating the analogy tutor feature that customizes explanations based on user interests.
What we learned Chrome's built-in AI capabilities are powerful but require careful handling of character limits and content escaping, local AI processing is viable for research tools while maintaining privacy, and user experience in browser extensions requires balancing functionality with non-intrusive design.
What's next for Ward Bot Adding support for more content types (PDFs, documents), expanding language support beyond English, implementing collaborative study features, adding export options for study materials, and potentially supporting other browsers beyond Chrome.
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