Centsible

Centsible Extension used to summarize Government of Canada Department of Finance Webpage
Keywords extracted from Government of Canada Department of Finance Webpage
Centsible Extension ChatBot
Centsible Extension ChatBot

Inspiration

Our project was inspired by the need to make finance more accessible, especially for individuals who might be unfamiliar with financial concepts. One of our team members, a first-generation immigrant to Canada, shared her experiences of struggling to understand basic financial terms—she didn’t even know what a credit limit was at first. Financial websites are often overwhelming, filled with jargon like 'RRSPs' and dense information. We wanted to make an application that summarizes and explains everything on a website like that, so we built centsible, a virtual assistant telling you everything you need to know about finance, making it make cents.

What it does

Centsible is a Chrome extension designed to make complex financial concepts "cents-ible" for users of all backgrounds. It simplifies financial jargon while browsing the web by leveraging Google's Gemini API for real-time market data and Hugging Face’s AI models for personalized insights. Additionally, Centsible includes a built-in chatbot, enabling users to ask questions and gain deeper understanding of financial topics—all within the comfort of a single tab. To enhance exploration, Centsible automatically extracts key financial concepts and terms from articles, allowing users to easily identify topics they can explore further.

How we built it

Centsible was developed as a Chrome extension using React and Tailwind CSS for a user-friendly and responsive interface. The back-end is powered by Python and Flask, integrating Google’s Gemini API for real-time financial data and enabling the chatbot feature. The chatbot, utilizing Gemini, provides accurate and context-aware responses to user inquiries. We used Hugging Face's models solely for summarizing scraped data from financial articles, allowing users to quickly grasp the essential points. The extension also includes a keyword extraction feature that identifies important financial terms, guiding users toward concepts they can explore further. User preferences and interaction histories are stored securely in MongoDB to enhance personalization.

Challenges we ran into

Integrating a real-time chatbot powered by Gemini, alongside keyword extraction and summarization features, posed several technical challenges. Connecting the backend and frontend was particularly difficult, especially since half of our team were beginner hackers. This presented a steep learning curve as it was everyone’s first experience implementing a Chrome extension. We needed to ensure that the chatbot provided accurate, contextually relevant responses while maintaining quick performance. Additionally, fine-tuning the summarization model to effectively condense information from various articles required careful calibration. We also faced challenges in ensuring that the extension could extract and display keywords efficiently without disrupting the user experience on different web pages.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

One of our key accomplishments was successfully integrating APIs, which played a crucial role in developing a functional product. Through debugging challenges, we demonstrated resilience and a commitment to creating tools for good, focusing on accessibility in finance. We recognized the existing gaps in the financial sector and aimed to build an accessible world for all users. Ultimately, our efforts culminated in a working product that not only showcased our technical capabilities but also reflected our shared vision of promoting inclusivity and empowerment in technology.

What we learned

During our women empowerment hackathon focused on accessibility and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), we learned invaluable lessons about teamwork and effective task division. Collaborating with diverse teammates allowed us to harness our unique strengths and perspectives, fostering an environment where everyone contributed to our project’s success. We also enhanced our technical skills by mastering version control using Git, which streamlined our workflow and ensured that we could easily track changes and collaborate efficiently. Additionally, we explored different types of APIs and how to make API calls, which were essential for connecting the backend of our application to the frontend, facilitating seamless data exchange and improving the user experience.

What's next for Centsible

Centsible can be enhanced into an even more user-centered tool for finance education by introducing a resources tab that offers curated learning pathways based on the financial concepts identified on the site, with diverse content formats like podcasts, videos, and articles. To make it more personalized, user profiles could include financial goals, interests, and age groups, tailoring resources to their specific needs beyond beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels. Additionally, integrating accessibility features like a voice plugin that reads out financial prompts, multilingual support, and text customization would broaden its reach, catering to users with different abilities. Smart recommendations and AI-driven assistance could dynamically adapt content based on user engagement and financial goals. Centsible could also foster community engagement through user-generated content, a discussion forum, and financial challenges that gamify the learning experience. By offering content for specific financial milestones, such as buying a house or retirement planning, Centsible would serve as an interactive, accessible, and tailored financial education platform for all users.