My Weekend with Google’s AI: A Journey from Curiosity to Creation

Over the past couple of weekends, I have had an eye-opening experience working with Google’s latest AI model. It was a journey that left me both awestruck and a bit apprehensive about what the future holds.

To give you some context, my background is in civil engineering, specifically design and project management, and I don’t possess any coding or computer science expertise. This made my decision to enroll for a free student license of Google’s new AI tool quite bold. I was eager to explore whether someone like me—without any programming skills—could effectively utilize this cutting-edge technology.

My goal was straightforward: to develop a simple application that would help me monitor my smaller-scale projects. I envisioned a tool that wouldn’t be too complex, featuring basic functionalities like charts, financial tracking, and project status updates. Although we already have software that serves this purpose, I yearned to craft something tailored to my specific needs.

During my recent weekend, I dedicated nearly eight hours to this endeavor. I interacted with the AI as if I were collaborating with a team of developers. To my astonishment, the AI generated the entire code for me! It even guided me on the necessary software to download and where to place the code.

The results were impressive—I managed to create a functional program without any prior coding knowledge. While it’s not perfect and may require further refinement, it serves its purpose and is designed exactly how I envisioned it.

However, there’s an underlying concern that accompanies this achievement. I am acutely aware of the rapid advancements in AI technology, which can be both thrilling and alarming. The capabilities of these models are only expected to improve, leaving me to ponder the potential implications of such progress.

In the coming week, I plan to continue this exploration by developing more small-scale applications. I look forward to sharing my experiences and discoveries as I delve deeper into this fascinating realm of AI.

Stay tuned for more updates on my journey into the world of AI-driven development!