Comment by rspoerri

I am working on a project since 10 months that is solely written by ai. The second iteration of the code is even coded in a language that i can really write in (rust), it uses advanced and very complex structures (crdt, plugins, parallel threaded webviews). None of the advanced features were an idea of the llm's, but a vision i had in my mind or requirements that came up when encountered with problems.

The software is a tool specifically designed around my requirements of managing lectures that need to be prepared, managed, have presentations, grading etc. I wanted one big space where i can quickly access all related data in a workspace, fold and unfold important aspects while also editing and moving contents across multiple days/lectures.

The first version is a vscode plugin, which i now use since about 4 months without or with minor modifications to manage my lectures and private data. The second version is a standalone application which improves on the ideas of the first version and goes a few steps further.

AI can make you something that looks like its running quickly. But when you try to finish it takes way longer then you'd think. You need to specify every little detail. You need to make its KISS and DRY etc. You let it analyze the application structure and simplify and cleanup nearly the same amount of times as you add features. While fixing bugs you might need to run the same thing multiple times and revert any unrequired changes. You need to think about good level of debug logs and ways that the program can help you find errors and report them quickly.

I hope my project will be ready in about 2 to 3 months. The current version is according to a quick analysis over 850 files with 250'000 lines of code.

I spent about 2000$ on ai subscriptions in that time. 200$ claude for a while down to 100$ a month now. 20$ to openai which is very important for architecture and reviews. 20$ on tests with other ai's, but i rarely use them in the works. I also spent 1500$ on 2 * 3090's to hopefully have a local ai agent in the future.

I spend about 2 to 4 hours each day (including weekends) to check that app and write prompts.

I would never have been able to create such a large and complex project next to my other tasks and i am very confident that the final product will be good enough for productive work.