These kinds of "clients" have always been around. If they want to tell me how long they think it should take, my answer has always been that they should do it t

These kinds of "clients" have always been around. If they want to tell me how long they think it should take, my answer has always been that they should do it themselves. If they say something like, "it shouldn't take too long," I said "send me what you need it to do." Then I look at that and ask "what if A, B or C happens? What if a user does X?" Make a list about 15 bullet points long of edge cases they hadn't thought of showing, the flaws in their business logic. (This, btw, is what I'd do if I were instructing an LLM as well). Then it's, "well, how long will that take?" And my answer - like the best of car mechanics who work on custom rides - is: I don't know how long until I actually get in there, but minimum 5x what you think, and my rate is $300/hr. Is it worth it to you to do it right? Usually the answer is no. When it's yes, I have a free hand. And having a few clients who pay well is worth a lot more than having a few dozen who think they know everything and are too cheap to pay for it anyway.