I spent the last month building my own personal website, a feat unto itself for me. I consider myself non-technical even though I've been a lifelong fan of technology. I'd done the usual stuff: Codecademy, written "Hello World" more times than I can remember, and quietly seethed as others just did better technically. This is definitely self-deprecation in the works, the truth is I never particularly worked hard for it, so it made sense why I never succeeded in building websites or what not.
I remember a few years ago I was so broke that I'd gotten on Twitter and searched up bug bounties. I'd signed myself up for HackerOne and read white papers on SANS. It never got me anywhere. Yet I still kept my hand on the pulse of the tech world, still was on Twitter, hopped on all the new AI programs as soon as they came out. I'm a huge sci-fi nerd and this felt like the future I was promised. Turns out, it really was.
It took me less than four hours to code and build this website with the help of Claude. It was easy as hell and frankly I am routinely shocked by how good it is. It keeps getting better and for the first time I'm able to break into the technical part of tech. It's boring work, I can't lie. Debugging specifically pisses me off sometimes, but I'm also constantly learning despite everything.
I think for some, the fear of Claude and all these other AI platforms is that they take the brain out of everything. For me personally I think it's not so clear cut. Claude codes well, yes, but you have to be aware and learning constantly about all the stupid little stuff. Claude in a sense just gets rid of the floor and allows for the entrance of non-technical people into the tech world. Perhaps we'll even become technical? I'm saying this as if it's an enshrined identity, but to a certain extent these skills take years to master and they build on each other. Having it click gives one confidence and the necessary intuition.
As a result of this little project I am teaching myself to code independently. I made Claude give me a mini crash course on Python for my stats class recently when I was completely lost in the sauce. I won't go on the moral high ground here: get on Claude if you want, or bemoan AI ruining the world, but also be keenly aware that others are using these tools to learn, innovate, and often make a shit ton of money. Just get on them and build personal projects, the ones you've always told yourself you couldn't do.
When the website went live for the first time I felt like a kid in a candy store, all awe and wonder. I'll keep using Claude to build mini projects that make my life easier and keep me holding onto that feeling: the wonder of tech and how it can change things for the better... and maybe help me make a shit ton of money. One can dream. Or manifest.