Lab
Notes on things I make with AI. What I wanted to make, how I made it with the tools, what came out, and what I learned along the way.
Changing the model or changing the brief
I tried two ways of getting different design choices from AI: asking other models and rewording the brief. Changing the model made more difference in these tests.
Read the experiment
Asking AI models to design the same page
I gave AI models the same landing page brief to see what they would make. Many made similar choices. Then I ran it again to check whether the way I set up the test had influenced the results.
Small things I made with AI
Five small experiments from the past year, from Iznik patterns on a virtual plate to a camera page that makes an object on your desk come alive.
Building CrateBridge to work with music samples
I wanted to pull instruments out of songs and use them in Serato Studio and Ableton Live. This is how CrateBridge grew from a sample importer into a plugin for separating stems and making new patterns.
Building a workspace for people and their agents
I wanted a place where people and AI agents could work on the same product. Building Loopsteer, Loopstr and Looper with Claude Code and Codex kept changing my idea of how that should work.
Making Verity and Hormuz Open
I built a conflict map with an AI radio show, then a quieter page about the Strait of Hormuz. Getting the writing to sound right took much more work than getting either project to produce text.
Making Animal Vision
I wanted to explore how other animals see using a phone and Google Cardboard. I built Animal Vision with Replit Agent and Gemini, tried rebuilding it from written rules, and later started turning it into a game for kids.
Making a crypto trading bot with AI
I built a crypto trading bot with Replit Agent and a chat assistant, first as an AI agent that made its own trade decisions and then as a fixed loop that checks the exchange before recording a trade.
Making a shared music room
I wanted to listen to music with friends online. I built a room where two DJs take turns, everyone hears the same song, and you can see who is enjoying it.