My Weekend Encounters with Google’s AI: Awe-Inspiring Yet Frightening Experience

Exploring Google’s AI Model: A Civil Engineer’s Journey into Coding

Over the past two weekends, I had the opportunity to dive into the world of artificial intelligence, specifically with Google’s latest AI model. My experience has been a cocktail of excitement and apprehension.

A Bit About Me

To give you some context, I come from a civil engineering background, focusing primarily on design and project management. I don’t have any formal training in coding or computer science. However, I recently signed up for a free student license to experiment with Google’s AI model, intrigued by the prospect of whether someone without coding knowledge could create something useful.

The Experiment: Building a Custom Application

My goal was straightforward: I wanted to build a simple application to track my small-scale projects. While there are existing software solutions that accomplish this, I envisioned a tool tailored to my specific needs—featuring finance tracking and project health indicators.

I dedicated almost eight hours last weekend to this undertaking. Engaging with the AI felt like collaborating with a team of skilled developers. Remarkably, the model generated entire sections of code for me, guiding me on which programs to download and where exactly to place the code snippets.

The Outcome: A Mixed Bag of Emotions

I was genuinely astounded to see my idea take form. Despite my lack of coding expertise, I managed to create a functional application that, while still a bit rough around the edges, serves my requirements perfectly. It’s not flawless, but it works in the way I intended.

Yet amidst this excitement lies a sense of unease. The advancements in AI are astounding—and somewhat daunting. As these models grow increasingly sophisticated, the implications of their capabilities can be both awe-inspiring and a source of concern.

Looking Ahead

Next week, I plan to continue my journey by creating additional small-scale applications. I’m eager to see where this exploration will take me, especially in a field where I initially felt out of my depth. The future is certainly intriguing, and I look forward to sharing more about my experiences as I delve deeper into the world of AI and application development.

If you have any tips or resources for someone like me, please share! I’m open to guidance and advice as I navigate this new territory.