diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index b95e09b..063ca65 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1,47 +1,14 @@
-# City Portal - A STEAM Club Project 
+# City Portal - A STEAM Club Project (incomplete, this README describes the end goal)
 
-> [!NOTE]
-> Everything described underneath is the theoretical goal of the project -
-> certainly not the state it's in, and probably not the state it will ever be in...
+AI note: the old README used to be AI generated. This is no longer the case, and all the code in this
+project is 100% human-written.
 
- ---
+City portal is a local data aggregator: local data is a term I coined to mean data that only matters to a specific geographical community.
+This can range from weather, to events at the local town hall, to transportation. City Portal provides an open and extendable way to use this data,
+exposing a GraphQL API that anyone is free to read from, but write access can be restricted.
 
-Imagine, in the city of the future:
-a single, unified digital layer connecting every source of urban knowledge.
-**City Portal** is that layer - an open, extensible platform where
-**all data, all events, all locations** are accessible in one place.
+The City Portal is adaptable to different scenarios: by customizing the different datasets that the server stores and that data can be stored into,
+the managers of the Portal can decide what kinds of local data is stored, but still have this data categorized neatly by function.
 
-City Portal exposes a **GraphQL API** that provides **free read access** to the city's datasets -
-from transportation networks to local events, from environmental sensors to cultural archives.
-Anyone can build on it: dashboards, analytics tools, or public displays that bring the city
-to life.
-
-Certain data domains (e.g. weather, utilities, public safety) are writable only by
-**authorized city devices**, ensuring authenticity to maintain the City Portal's integrity. 
-
-Beyond data aggregation, City Portal aims to become a **platform for experimentation**.
-Students, researchers, artists, and engineers can collaborate through the same interface to:
-
-* Build interactive maps, visualizing live data feeds
-* Integrate IoT sensors and public devices
-* Run simulations and predictive models
-* Develop mobile or AR applications using open datasets
-* Create educational experiences around real urban systems
-
-The project promotes **STEAM learning** by mixing science, technology, engineering, art,
-and mathematics into one practical challenge: making cities more understandable, efficient, and
-inclusive through data.
-
-City Portal is fully **open source**, community-driven, and designed for adaptability.
-Each deployment in a different city would form part of a broader network of civic APIs -
-**a group of connected cities**, able to exchange verified data to form a digital ecosystem of
-urban knowledge.
-
-The main mission of City Portal is to be a framework for **digital citizenship**,
-where information is treated as a shared resource and every resident, developer, or policymaker
-can take part in shaping the city's future.
-
-## Run locally
-Use `docker compose` or `podman compose` at the project root. Then, `cd` into `backend/` and
-type `cargo run`. Cargo is not currently part of the compose as it has to recompile everything every time,
-which is a massive pain.
+Finally, because of its free to read API, the City Portal promotes extension: anyone is free to build ML models, graphs, or visualizations on top
+of the Portal.