AI is everywhere. I tend to find most of what I read about it to be some of the most boring writing every committed to pixel form so I will try and be brief.
Over the course of Christmas 2024 I used ChatGPT to help me build an online book tracker websitesite. I documented said process here: link. You can tell that I was enthused by the experience. I managed to build a very rudimentary site but for a first timer I was fascinated.
2 years later AI is a constant throughout my workday, I use it for an endless amount of menial tasks as it continues to get smarter and smarter. With said jump in intelligence I decided to have a go at updating my digital bookshelf project. Over a rainy long weekend I set Claude (now the only AI I use) to the task of drawing up not 1 but 2 new sites.
I worked on a new design, with the same workflow, for the Biblioteca site and also on an update for my own consulting company's site: Ultramar Media Solutions. Both were built entirely via prompts, with new designs and functionalities pumped out by a mix of Claude and its Claude Code feature.
I am not a complete computer luddite so I do have some idea as to why some things work. With that knowledge I was able to configure the final steps via Git Hub and the subsequent hosting and domain name formalities. If I had doubts I just asked the AI to explain it to me as if I were 12.
I could go into more detail but you could also just ask your own AI as to how I did and save me the effort. I am also not very interested in the how here. I like cool websites and digital projects but I have no real interest in knowing how they work. The same way I might like a cool car or a nice watch, I have no desire to become a mechanic or to fiddle about with intricate movements. Here the AI lets me create what I want without having to get my hands dirty. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? For the moment, I think it is a good thing. I am better at prompting than I am at coding.
I suggest you visit each site, play around and, if you like, send me your feedback.
An online tracker of books I read and want to read.
My consulting agency.
More than anything I recommend that you try building something yourself. This little project will save me over $200 a year on Squarespace fees (I ticked Claude Code in the dropdown menu as the reason for cancelling my subscription). It opens up a swathe of options for someone who like me who can't write a single line of code.
If you are still reading I hope I have succeeded in sharing something interesting about the use of AI without boring you in the process or filling your mind with LinkedIn slop.
