AI Is Giving The Web Its Myspace 2.0 Moment

One day a few months ago I decided to sit down with AI and build this entire site by myself. No team. No special software. Just me, a laptop, two AI subscriptions, and some free services.

It came with ups, downs, frustrations, and multiple stages of grief. But as you will discover, I prevailed, not only in building a website, but in building a personal communication platform.

When I set off to build this site, I didn’t really know what I was getting myself into. Over the last 25 years I have participated in numerous large-scale development efforts across different industries and technology platforms. Coding can be notoriously challenging. Enter Artificial Intelligence (AI), a new hammer in the toolbox of coding tools. I subscribe to professional accounts for ChatGPT and Gemini, so I prompted the AI and set off on this adventure…

I know I could have built this more efficiently, but I wanted to really learn and understand the capabilities of AI in normal people’s hands. I did a lot of experimenting to see how AI models worked around my coding style, how good the code was, and how well it could diagnose and fix errors.

At first, I tried being polite, thinking it would improve results. It didn’t. The more I used it, the more frustrated I became with its flaws and weaknesses. As in real life, I called out its mistakes until it produced usable code, or at least something I could patch together.

Most of the code I received was solid, some terrible, some brilliant. The hard part was knowing which was which, but I quickly learned.

Most of the code I received was solid, some terrible, some brilliant. The hard part was knowing which was which, but I quickly learned. The longer I used a particular session, the slower and more repetitive the session became. Responses were flawed, often going in circles. Yet occasionally, after all the loops, it would somehow deliver a beautifully crafted and correct response. Those moments hinted at real learning within certain sessions. 

Since I was a kid coding in BASIC, I envisioned a future where I could tell a computer what type of software application I wanted, and watch it create the application. For all intents and purposes, that day is here.

Many people (and companies) thought low-code or no-code products would bring about this kind of revolution in computing. But so far, those tools have proven to be expensive, inflexible, and inadequate. Much like a carpenter can use his tools to create beautiful yet functional products, AI is a tool that allows normal folk to sculpt custom creations with minimal time, effort, and cost.

I don’t know if I am a “Vibe Coder” now, but something feels very real and natural about this approach to coding. It doesn’t take much imagination to remove me as the monkey in the middle from the “cut and paste” coding I was doing, and there are some solutions that already do this to some degree.

Sure, I could have created an AI agent to build this entire site, and maybe I will experiment with that at some point. But I know the end product would be starkly different. It would not be this site. It would look different, work different, feel different, and likely be very difficult to change because of design choices made by AI and not me.

This site came together almost like a Myspace 2.0.

Decisions I waffled on would have been out of my control. I went down several paths only to turn around and undo them because they were not useful, not elegant, or my reasoning changed. This site came together almost like a Myspace 2.0. And maybe, if we are lucky, we can create new methods and standards to connect us. Personal technology that doesn't rely on giant corporations, surveillance, and massive infrastructure.

I believe that through AI we can design a better world for us, but maybe we shouldn’t hand over every aspect to AI. Many people like to personalize their stuff. I don’t see that changing.

We are truly living in an age of empowerment. That is the real promise of AI. It puts the power of creation into the hands of many. It allowed me to build something in a few months of spare time that would have been nearly impossible alone. Anyone can use this tool to build and explore anything they want. To mold the world around you and form it to your will. To finally control your own data and stop giant corporations from stealing it and spying on our every move.

We are entering an age where anyone can build, create, and take control of their lives. Follow along as we explore this together because the future is not just being built by AI, it’s being built by us!