I spent 3 weeks building with AI. Here's what actually worked.

Published 2 days ago • 1 min read

I just wrapped up 3 weeks of intensive AI coding experiments.

While everyone's debating whether AI will replace developers, I decided to test it myself. Here's what I actually built and what surprised me:

What I Built:

  1. A portfolio tracker with IBKR integration (Python + Telegram alerts)
  2. Three business automation scripts using Claude Code
  3. A complete Zettelkasten CLI system for rapid note capture
  4. Deployed multiple projects to VPS using cursor CLI

The Reality Check:

AI didn't replace thinking - it amplified it. The hardest part wasn't coding syntax, it was knowing what to build and why.

3 Things That Actually Worked:

  1. AI as Executive Assistant: I pointed Claude at my 284 plain-text notes. It instantly generated business ideas, newsletter drafts, and content calendars. This wasn't coding - it was intelligence amplification.
  2. Speed Over Perfection: My telegram bot has old data and the UI needs work. But it's deployed and functioning. "Good enough to ship" beats "perfect in draft."
  3. Learning by Building: Coursera's AI courses felt academic. Building actual tools with real APIs taught me more in a week than months of tutorials.

The Surprise:

My plain text manifesto from 3 years ago suddenly paid off. No vendor lock-in meant Claude could read everything instantly. My Zettelkasten became training data for my own AI assistant.

What This Means for You:

Stop debating AI's impact. Start building with it. Pick one manual process you do daily. Ask AI to help automate it. Ship something ugly but functional.

The question isn't "Will AI replace me?" It's "How fast can I learn to build with it?"

Next week I'm tackling options trading automation. Because the best way to understand the future is to build it yourself.

What's one thing you could build with AI this week?

P.S. My coding journey is documented in real-time on YouTube. No highlight reel - just honest field reports from someone learning to build.

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Hook: 3 weeks of AI coding experiments

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