I can’t code. I seriously did HTML in the 90s, but from there I diverged into video production, and then startups and marketing. But I’ve often wondered how different my life would have been had I learned how to code.
AI has given me a partial answer by now doing the coding for me:
No barrier between me and my many ideas coming to life.
A serious lack of sleep because of late nights “coding.”
Time spent in a flow state completely different from writing and video editing.
TL;DR: I CAN “CODE” NOW, AND SO CAN YOU.
You should believe some of the hype about AI and creating apps. Spinning up an app really is as easy now as talking to ChatGPT.
One year ago, this wasn’t the case. The AI would quickly get stuck, and you’d have no way to fix your app except for starting over (or bringing in a real, flesh and blood developer, ironically).
Since then, AI models and tools like Replit, Cursor, and Windsurf have gotten so much better that you can actually create apps from start to finish.
Here’s what I’ve built just in the last few months:
A 2.0 revamp of a relatively complex content analysis web app.
A personal stock scanner that does a weekly analysis of the NASDAQ and NYSE based on several of my investment theses.
Several Python scripts that pull and analyze data from multiple APIs.
An MVP for a side-project.
That MVP was just last weekend. I used Cursor’s updated AI agent and it let me build in three hours what I thought would take at least a few weeks.
All of this is to say: GO BUILD SOMETHING!
Really, go try it out.
Build a personalized grocery shopping list.
A content recommendation system based on your reading history.
A data visualization dashboard for your personal finances.
A web scraper that monitors price changes for products you like.
An assistant that generates practice questions for topics you're studying.
A meal tracker based on pictures you take of your food.
Whatever it is, no matter how silly, try to build something this week.
Start in ChatGPT or Claude. When you get stuck, try one of the tools I mentioned earlier.
Need help or inspiration? I’ve written a detailed account of my experience building the SEO forecasting tool at Animalz. It explains when to use which tool, pitfalls to watch out for, and much more.
What’s on my human mind
Here’s stuff I’ve been reading and thinking about.
The Animalz AI & Content podcast: I’ve had the honor and pleasure of co-hosting a new season of the Animalz podcast about AI & Content. Together with Animalz CEO Ty Magnin, I got to talk to lots of really smart folks and how they’re thinking about AI.
The season intro goes live this Thursday, then we drop a new episode every Tuesday and Thursday through March. Find the show wherever you get your podcasts (search for "The Animalz Content Marketing Podcast").
A new generation of AIs: Claude 3.7 and Grok 3: Two powerful new AI models just came out — Ethan Mollick has an in-depth review that’s worth reading to understand the latest developments in the AI model wars.
The Handoff to Bots: I talked about AI agents marketing to each other about a month ago, and had a few follow-up posts how agents could also enter all other parts of our lives. Kevin Kelly (of WIRED fame) takes this idea much further, describing an economy driven by “synthetic agents,” not humans.
Perplexity is launching “a new agentic and deep research browser.” It’s called Comet. Not sure what to expect but I love most of what Perplexity has done so far so pretty high chances this will be awesome. You can sign up for the waitlist on the link.
If you're building something interesting with AI, struggling with a particular coding challenge, or just want to share thoughts on these developments, don’t hesitate to drop me a line!
Until next time,
Tim
The explainer video is fab, Tim. I’m excited to pick a project and start building with AI (I’m not a proficient coder) - thanks for the inspiration.
Hey Tim! I came across Replit for the first time only a few days ago, and I can't wait to start building. You brought a lot of valuable information to this issue; thank you!