"Recent Fragmented Life and Progress of Several Small Projects"

It seems like it's been a while since I updated the public account, so I'll just chat a bit.

Personal Life

I returned to my home country for a week due to visa reasons. There were many things I wanted to eat but ended up not going for them; I feel like I've been eating less since coming to Thailand. Recently, some friends have asked me how Thailand is and expressed interest in coming for a while.

Currently, the consensus in China is that Thailand and other Southeast Asian regions are unsafe. I haven't lived in many countries and don't have much experience, but my feeling is that the sense of security here is definitely not as good as back home. It relies more on daily precautions, such as using ride-hailing apps for taxis, avoiding less populated areas, and not speaking Chinese in public (most of the people who might take advantage of you are fellow countrymen).

Additionally, the attitude towards Chinese people is not as friendly as before. After all, news about Chinese people causing trouble has become a daily occurrence rather than just news. Recently, when I was moving houses, I was almost driven crazy by the lengthy questioning process just to rent a place.

Then there's the issue of pets. If you want to live in the city and have pets, you basically have to choose a pet-friendly apartment. If you try to keep a pet secretly and get caught, you'll likely have to move. As for transporting pets, you can find experiences on Xiaohongshu; based on my experience, you need to prepare some documents a month in advance, book an oxygen cabin, buy tickets, and so on. The procedures aren't complicated anyway.

Many people also ask me about learning English. Actually, attending classes for two hours a day is quite manageable. It's not like the question-and-answer style learning in China; it's more focused on practical speaking skills, with some grammar, pronunciation, and vocabulary included. However, the intensity can't be compared to studying in China. I've seen many Chinese people who are actually quite good at English; they just don't speak or aren't used to speaking it. Most people can communicate without barriers after just a few months of classes.

Another thing is that I've extended my Thai language classes for another two months, planning to put in some effort to learn speaking and listening skills for simple communication. Learning a language is quite interesting; you get to understand different cultures. For example, when Koreans visit someone's new house, they bring toilet paper, which symbolizes long-lasting health (because the roll is long?).

I've also created a few songs using AI and plan to learn about audio production when I have time, aiming to globally release the songs. The interesting thing about AI is that it can help you realize your ideas at a low cost. If I want to create something, I can use AI to achieve a basic level of 60%. If I'm still interested, I can then learn the professional content to reach 80%.

Recently, I've been exploring workflow orchestration software and chat logs. If I'm interested, I could completely develop a software tool to help AI analyze conversation records. I have many ideas, but the only things lacking are energy and money.

Independent Development

Yesterday, I saw a news article stating that the enrollment rate for a well-known American university's computer science department is only 0.2%, mentioning that PhD graduates can't find jobs for eight months and that AI will replace programmers, etc.

My view is that these statements are both right and wrong. The right part is that many jobs will indeed be replaced by AI in the future, including the tasks I'm currently doing, which large models will easily accomplish. The wrong part is that it's not that complicated; AI cannot design the next generation of products; it can only optimize existing products, like making a horse run faster instead of creating a car.

In terms of development, when I first entered the industry, front-end page implementation was actually done by back-end developers. Front-end developers, colloquially known as "cutting pictures," would turn design pages into static pages, which were then supplemented by back-end developers with specific logic. However, as the complexity of front-end development increased, the workload for back-end developers didn't lighten; in fact, it became even more demanding.

The increase in productivity doesn't mean that someone who works eight hours a day will only work four hours a day. A person who works eight hours will still work eight hours, but they will just have more tasks to complete. Unless they suddenly feel that four hours a day is enough for life, which has nothing to do with productivity.

Having said so much, let's talk about some product-related matters.

StickerAI

Last time I mentioned that the first version of StickerAI has basically realized my ideas, so there shouldn't be any major changes. I will share the experience of taking the project from 0 to 1 later. I think many people don't quite understand how to effectively use AI to create an AI Agent product, including some service integrations for going overseas.

I've also started trying to shoot some videos and write content for social media. Operating a social media account is a big task. I've followed a few traffic operation experts, and with the recent popularity of labubu, I've begun to understand that your content shouldn't be too useful; if it's too useful, it will only attract peers to plagiarize it. It's similar to fitness; occasionally listening to motivational talks isn't bad. Recently, I've also learned a new term: "duck soup."

I've also realized that you can't use the same rhetoric across different platforms; the audiences on different platforms are different, so if you want to distribute content, you need to rephrase it. Another point is that any viewpoint will attract viewers; for example, some people like coffee, while others prefer water. The key is which topics are more suitable for the current platform's traffic pool. A friend of mine said he heard a saying: "Do whatever you want; if someone criticizes you, just block them. It's that simple."

PromptPlan

Currently, I have a new project, which is a rhythm management tool. I plan to use AI to manage everything I'm currently handling, determining priorities, etc. It's somewhat like a to-do list but not quite, as it doesn't have a concept of time or completion. However, the first version of the prompts I wrote hasn't achieved the desired effect, and I'm currently facing a bottleneck, unsure how to proceed since it's a new product form, and no one knows what it should look like.

This also ties back to what I mentioned earlier: current AI cannot design the next generation of products without human intervention. I've been feeling anxious these days, thinking I can't complete this project, and GPT suggested I take a break and do something to push things forward. So, I've decided to spend some time writing about "Building an Independent Product from Zero to One."

Others

The AI polishing tool is currently at a standstill because I haven't figured out what its selling point is; it's useful but not unique enough. It might be integrated into PromptPlan later, but I'm not sure yet.

Some friends have asked me why I don't look for a job. I'm open to it; for example, there are offers for Singapore and Malaysia, and of course, there are opportunities in Beijing and Shanghai. However, the problem is that they all require office attendance, which doesn't allow for much flexibility in time, and the relocation costs are very high. Additionally, some jobs don't feel like normal work; if things go wrong, I might not be able to return, so remote work feels the safest. Honestly, a 35-year-old man lacks competitiveness in the job market, and with the development of AI, this situation will only worsen. Even major international companies are laying off employees like crazy.

However, AI has greatly reduced the trial-and-error costs for one-person companies and independent developers, which is unprecedented. That's all for today; I'll write more when I have time.