Hand-Picked Content
Independent Thinker or Prompt Engineer
Article, 20 min
In academia, career progress is measured in published papers. So when LLMs can help produce work that passes review, students and researchers use them. The output clears the bar. The metric looks fine.
The piece argues that this is where something quietly breaks. By skipping the grunt work, you skip the process that builds intuition. You never develop the ability to spot when something is off, or sense a wrong turn before it becomes a problem. The results look the same. The thinking isn’t.
We have always taken shortcuts to pass a test or get a piece of work done. But it used to be copy-paste and some manual customization. Now it is creating the whole thing. That is a different reality. Only time will tell how we as a society will adapt, and what it means that you can mimic understanding a craft or learning a trade without actually having learned it.
The Infinity Machine
Podcast, 40 min
If you want to understand how AI got to where it is today, a good entry point is the people who built it. This podcast episode features the author of The Infinity Machine, a biography of Demis Hassabis, the researcher who founded DeepMind before it was acquired by Google.
It covers the history of AI through one person’s story, but also gives a look into how the inner circle of tech works: how funding is raised, how relationships form, and how a small group of people shaped what became a global industry.
I listened to the episode and found it a good listen. Haven’t read the book yet, but it’s on the list.
Designers Are Vibe Coding Now
Article, 10min
How does the designer role get influenced by AI in its processes and tooling? This well-structured, concise report is based on 1,478 survey respondents across 18 regions. The headline finding: 43.8% of designers now spend more than half their building time on AI-generated code. The most-used design tool after Figma is now an AI. Worth checking out if you work in or alongside design.
Hack your workflow
Fixed grammar, respected privacy
As every word you type gets uploaded to an AI and analyzed, it’s good to remember there are alternatives. Harper sits in your browser as an extension, fixes your grammar, and suggests improvements wthout ignoring your privacy. Also available for Obsidian.
Tools & Apps
Screen Recorder with a Twist
Productivity
Tight Studio is a new contender in the screen recording and video editing space, built for Mac. You can record your screen, camera, and audio, then polish the result with captions, zoom effects, and AI voiceover.
The standout feature for me is the AI voice layer. Instead of recording narration live, you write a script, pick an AI voice, and apply it to your video after the fact. That changes how you work: focus entirely on getting the screen recording right, then handle the audio separately.
I took it for a test and really liked it. See an example I created here. Tight Studio offers a generous free plan.
Idea to Product
Vibecoding
Sticklight turns a prompt into a website, web app, or dashboard. Once the first draft is ready, you can keep editing via prompt, switch to a visual editor, or drop into code view. Database management is built in too. Free to explore and publish on a subdomain. Connecting your own domain is also an option.
- Added to our ever-growing list of vibecoding tools
Secure Meetings
Productivity
Proton started with ProtonMail and has since expanded into a full suite of privacy-focused tools: VPN, Drive, Calendar, and now video meetings with ProtonMeet.
The product follows the same logic as the rest of the Proton lineup: take something familiar and rebuild it with privacy as the foundation. A nice touch: you can start a meeting without creating an account.
Fresh Reflections
How Tos, opinions, thoughts.
🔜 Last Call: AI Prototyping Workshop Vienna (April 23/24) 👀
Turning an idea into a working digital prototype is a skill every digital creator should master. Our workshop does exactly that. You’ll go from idea to working prototype, no coding required. Newsletter subscribers get a discount, just hit reply to get the details.
Blog: Devs and Vibecoders Merge and Sometimes Collide
AI and vibecoding bring millions of people into building digital products with a greenhorn attitude and a “works on localhost” mindset. Then they hit a wall.
Classifieds
Descript: Audio and Video Editing for Creators
Descript started as a podcast editor where you edit audio by editing the transcript. Today it’s a full-fledged audio and video editor for creators. Quirky at times, but powerful once you’re into it.
No-Nonsense Web Analytics
For too long, installing Google Analytics on a new website was the default option for many webmasters, but for most projects, it’s overly complex. Meet Fathom, privacy-first, cookie-free web analytics. We ditched GA for Fathom a long time ago.
The Smart Email Marketing Alternative
EmailOctopus is the email software perfect for creators and small businesses. Simple, intuitive, world-class support – all at a fair price point. And this newsletter also runs on EmailOctopus.
Paid promotions and affiliate links support this newsletter. Would you be interested in advertising to our 2400 subscribers? Check /advertise
🤝 Work with Fresh van Root
An AI-native agency with a human-centric approach. We run digital marketing projects across content, social, and growth, helping teams adopt AI workflows without losing their soul. Book a call
Off-Topic Links
AI Time Travel
Youtube
An enjoyable AI-generated video takes you on a tour of the Titanic from start to finish.
Music AI cant produce yet
YouTube
A live recording session featuring artist Angine de Poitrine on KEXP radio went viral. As one YouTube commenter put it: it’s crazy how they can sound exactly like they look.