Yo yo. I have been continuing work on my brain app. It’s an HTML knowledge management type thing. It works with local storage - it’s not a cloud based tool.
Initially I wanted something where I could dump a link and have a summary generated and have that summary auto-categorized. The idea was to outsource my memory to a more reliable and accessible format. LOL.
I then added manual entries so you could create your own note. You could easily use it as a diary or journal and I have been doing that - it’s been a great way to test and iterate.
The reason for the post today is an example of my fave feature, something I’ve been waiting for for a very long time, and that I’m both surprised by and proud of. This is the prompt generation feature. I’ve seen things like it before but this particular implementation feels so right because it takes your own reflections as source material for generating a writing prompt.
When you click the Generate Prompt button it looks at your previous writing and searches for unanswered questions and loose ends. It then formulates a question designed to make you think about something that is apparently important to you but that is also unresolved. It connects seemingly separate things creatively. Yes this is an AI function but because it is based on my own thoughts and feelings, it feels so relevant.
it has helped me think about myself and my life reflectively in a way that I don’t usually (because I move on from things very quickly). That said I still need therapy 😊
Try it pleeeeeease.
I invite you to try this for yourself. You will have to add some notes before the tool has anything much to work with, I guess (the button wont show until there are two user-entries). Maybe jot down a couple of things you’ve been pondering lately. It can be throwaway and rubbish as you like because the app will automatically summarize your writing and extract key points.
I am throwing an example into this post below. It’s pretty poignant because it relates to finding direction as a creative lost soul. I’m sorry the writing in my answer is so organized and legible but I have been using speech-to-text and it cleans it up automatically.
For full documentation on this and other features, check the readme.
Prompt:
In [Ref: 28], you noted that using an audience boundary forces decisions and cuts through brain fog. In [Ref: 144], you realized your natural audience might simply be people like you who don’t know which direction to pick. If you create directly for fellow undecided people, what project or message feels most urgent to put in front of them?
Answer:
This is an interesting question. I’ve been playing with such a direction/audience for a year and a half now and it did feel motivating. I didn’t get much traction on YouTube so I kind of quit it and then my personal life blew up so I guess I forgot about it until recently.
I would say to them that getting started in small rough ways is absolutely fine. It’s more about your own mental space than about fulfilling any external expectation. Being willing to create with not-ideal tools and share is the way. Know that it’s not the format or fidelity, it’s actually the message that will set any creative apart. Knowing what you stand for, what you love, what you have to give to others - these are what counts . you don’t need a $12,000 PC to do it. You can publish a 1080p video, not a 4K video, if your computer doesn’t process 4K fast enough.
I guess I’m not a good example because I waited for time and money before I got started and I still didn’t get started. But I guess that is a great example, because having time and money and not being able to start, I realized that time and money were not the bottleneck (which is good news).
I can still be an example by starting to putting stuff out. But what is it really about? Being creative for the sake of being creative is nothing. Escaping the 9-to-5 is nothing. I think what’s important at the end of the day is love. And I don’t know how this connects to my creativity.
And I think, because my ideals are higher than my capacity, I feel like nothing is ever worth it. This is a terrible misconception because any small benefit to other people makes their life easier and will help them make better decisions that will ultimately contribute to their fulfillment and ultimately finding peace and love.
That answer now sits as a potential source in my database, although it gives more weight to entries created by the user.
Needs Google AI Studio
You will need a google ai studio api key - you can get started without paying money and it’s pretty hard to go over the limit.
Waste of time and water?
I have been working on another post on using AI. AI has a bad name but that is because of how people have been using it. I think it is a tool with a lot of promise to help people in real ways and I can’t wait to see how it becomes more efficient and better implemented in ways that make a difference. This app was coded using AI and I think it is one example but I guess whether it was just a waste of time and water is yet to be seen. There I go again, classifying things that are important to me negatively.
Feedback welcome
it’s just been me using this although Ava was dabbling early on. Please give it a go. Write in some thoughts or even drop in some links that are interesting to you and see what prompts are generated. It’s set to use the fastest dumbest AI by default and that still should be interesting but if you want something a little more insightful, you can go into settings and change that. Comment on this post or contact me with any feedback. I would love to know what you think.
If you have an offline music library, you can also point my music player (ali player) at it and try that. get to it from my new homepage.
As usual and at least for myself, it’s important to remember that knowledge is useless without action. I’m great at building tools and creating systems - but I’m still working on changing my life.