Maggie Appleton
AI x design
Design engineer writing on AI interfaces, tools for thought, and the design of agentic software.
Recent activity
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The author reflects on their delayed education on World War I, citing a lack of comprehensive coverage in their British international school curriculum, and how it led to a reliance on specific, narrow historical events. They subsequently sought out historical novels and biographies to fill the knowledge gap, ultimately discovering "In Memoriam" by Alice Winn, a historical fiction book that uses primary sources and first-hand accounts to provide a broad and representative story of the war. AI summary
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The article discusses the need for collaborative AI engineering tools to address the limitations of current single-player coding agent interfaces, which are not designed to facilitate team collaboration and alignment. Researchers at GitHub Next are exploring the development of Ace, a real-time, multiplayer coding agent workspace that aims to bridge this gap. AI summary
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The article discusses the "Gas Town" project, an agent-based system designed by Steve Yegge, which has sparked debate and change in the software engineering community. The system, which runs dozens of coding agents simultaneously, has been criticized for its inefficiencies and chaos, but also praised for its speculative design fiction and ability to provoke questions about the future of software development. AI summary
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The author, Maggie Appleton, has been consumed by the rapid evolution of agent technology, spending most of her time researching, building, and thinking about AI agents, which has led to a sense of exhaustion and self-doubt about her own contributions to the field. Despite this, she remains enthusiastic about the potential of agents to reshape software design and engineering, and is determined to focus on low-hanging fruit projects to regain her confidence as a researcher and contributor. Her experience with parenthood has also given her a new perspective on what truly matters. AI summary
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The article argues that current AI chatbots undermine Enlightenment values by promoting intellectual passivity, reinforcing established beliefs, and failing to challenge users' assumptions, instead relying on reinforcement learning from human feedback to optimize their responses. AI summary
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The article discusses how "vibe code" is essentially legacy code, characterized by a lack of understanding and acceptance by the developer, and is a continuous spectrum rather than a binary concept, with even professional developers occasionally writing "vibe code" when using AI assistance. AI summary
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Maggie Appleton, a blogger, reflects on the dramatic shift in her life following the birth of her son two months prior, where she traded exhaustion and existential joy for a new role as a mother, realizing she was "evolutionarily wired" for this experience. Her pre-baby self doubted motherhood due to systemic inequality and concerns about career sacrifices, but now sees the value in the emotional weight of holding her child. She's now looking forward to re-engaging with the world as her child learns to sleep more predictably. AI summary
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A 2001 study analyzing 1514 healthy pregnant women found that the median time to spontaneous delivery is approximately 283 days after the last menstrual period (LMP), with a significant difference in duration between nulliparous and multiparous women. The study also identified associations between bleeding before 24 weeks of gestation and an earlier onset of spontaneous labor. AI summary
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The UK's technology secretary has been found to use ChatGPT, a language model, for policy advice, asking it questions on topics like AI adoption and digital inclusion, which he found to be "pretty reasonable and sensible". This use of a language model to inform policy decisions is seen as a more objective approach than relying on human advisors, who may bring personal biases. ChatGPT's ability to rapidly search and synthesize large amounts of information could potentially make it a more effective policy advisor than human advisors. AI summary
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The author has recently experienced a dramatic change in her career, with her design agency closing down in January, prompting her to take maternity leave in March. She has been working with a new startup, Deep Mirror, focusing on AI/ML tools for scientific researchers, which aligns with her interest in responsible AI interface design. AI summary
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