a web developer

💬 AI Tools

How I use AI in my work. I believe AI should augment human ability, not replace it. Anil Dash wrote a great piece on this that resonates with me.

Keith

My Tools

My relationship with AI coding tools changed in late 2025. I wrote about this in You Are The Driver — the short version is that I now use Claude Code as my primary coding tool, while I focus on architecture, validation, and direction. Not "AI writes my code" — closer to pair programming where I'm the senior dev.

  • ⚡

    Claude Code — My primary coding tool for everything from greenfield projects to refactoring. My CLAUDE.md setup establishes a collaborative relationship — it pushes back on bad ideas and flags uncertainty rather than guessing.

  • 💬

    Claude — For planning, architecture conversations, and thinking through problems that don't need to touch files. Also great for documentation and explaining complex systems.

  • 🤝

    GitHub Copilot — Still in VSCode for tab completion. I accept maybe 25% of suggestions. Useful for boilerplate but I don't rely on it for anything significant.

  • ✏

    Writing — This site's content is written by me. Blog posts, opinions, and creative work are human-authored. I'll use AI for editing suggestions, but the ideas and voice are mine.

The Driver

AI is a powerful tool, but you need to know where you're going. From You Are The Driver — here's what I bring to the partnership:

🎯

Direction

What are we building? What problem are we solving? What are the constraints?

🔍

Validation

Does this actually work? Does it match the requirements? Is the code quality acceptable?

⚙

Architecture

How does this fit the larger system? What are the long-term implications?

☆

Judgment

When to push back, when to accept, when to try a different approach entirely.

See my full CLAUDE.md configuration for how I set up this working relationship.

AIL Scale

I use the AI Influence Level framework to label how much AI was involved in content on this site. Most posts here are AIL 0 or 1.

0

All Human

Created entirely by hand, no AI involved.

1

Minor AI Assist

Human-written, AI helped with grammar or phrasing.

2

Major AI Augmentation

Human-written but significantly expanded with AI tools.

3

AI Created, Human Structure

Human described the full structure, AI filled it in.

4

AI Created, Human Idea

Human provided a basic idea, AI implemented it.

5

Mostly AI

AI generated with minimal human input.