39 lines
2.9 KiB
Markdown
39 lines
2.9 KiB
Markdown
---
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title: 'Why use AI'
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date: 2026-06-20
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description: 'Why I used AI so heavily to build TrainUs'
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draft: false
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---
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I used AI _massively_ to build TrainUs.
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Given my background (a computer science engineer) and my professional experience (I worked as a developer), I have the technical skills needed to build this kind of application. My problem was never skills, or even ideas for an app: I've always had plenty of ideas for personal projects. My problems have always been **time and motivation**.
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Lastly, in my professional field, I need to learn how to use these kinds of tools, and doing so on personal projects allows for a lot more experimentation than at work. And let's be honest, it's also fun to try out these tools everyone's talking about.
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## Time
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A software project always takes more time than you think, and it often follows the Pareto principle: the first 80% of the project takes 20% of the time needed to do the whole thing, and the last 20% takes 80% of your time. That's often why POCs (Proof of Concepts) take so little time: they never do that last 20% — which is often the least interesting part anyway.
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## Motivation
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I already spend 8 hours a day in front of a screen, so I want to do something else with my free time. And while there's real pleasure in fixing a bug that's resisted you for hours, the code itself was never my goal: I've always been interested in the product behind it. I'm the lazy type when it comes to a product's architecture, but uncompromising when it comes to tests and documentation.
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Basically, I generally don't feel like writing code, I feel like creating something useful (at least for me).
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## The AI
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So, AI solves this equation.
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For **time**, it can work on its own while I do something else (like my workout). Careful, though! It's not always _free_ either: it represents a **mental load** (at least at times, for me, since I'm still holding its hand a bit). Plus, it's super efficient at handling the remaining 20%! Example: its CSS expertise lets it quickly fix small GUI glitches that would have taken you quite a while.
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For **motivation**, it lets you refine your ideas and turn them into a product you can actually try out. The creating part stays on your side.
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## The fun
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Okay, AI is a bit what everyone's talking about right now. THE big ongoing revolution. The thing that's going to change everything forever. So naturally, that makes you want to try it.
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Sure, reviewing generated code isn't exciting, and honestly I've done little of it. But sending a prompt and getting the new feature back within an hour max (TrainUs is still a small app) is genuinely pleasant. And once you know how to go about it, having it write complete documentation in several languages is, for a solo developer with very little free time, pretty impressive.
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Well, it's not perfect, but it's still quite a tool! I haven't fully explored it (if that's even possible), but it's super interesting, and yes, I do plan to keep using it.
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