AI

This is an article that I’ll keep updating. ...

The previous post, Getting Started from Scratch, was about how to install it and get it running. This post is about using it well. And that is completely different from just getting it to run. I’ve found that what really determines the outcome isn’t which model you use or whether you can code. It’s how you delegate tasks and how you set up guardrails. The stuff in this post isn’t tied to a specific tool; it applies even if you use ChatGPT (I’ll explain the differences in the last section). ...

I was recently preparing an introductory AI lecture for our therapist colleagues, and thought I’d put together an advanced list of all the tools I normally use and the programs I’ve written. This way, when you want to do something, you can quickly look up “who to go to for this function.” It’s also something I’ve always wanted to organize for myself, so I’m taking this chance to write it all out. ...

When I shared my critical appraisal tool a while ago (to have Claude help with critical appraisal and summarizing content), a friend gave me a very honest reply: the tool is nice, but having to dig up the PDF yourself every single time is actually the most annoying part. It really is. To let AI read papers for you, you first need the full text. And when it comes to getting the full text, what usually gets you stuck isn’t the AI—it’s permissions, publishers, and the library. ...

The paper tool paper-review-and-digest I shared earlier had only been open-sourced for a few days when it received its first GitHub issue! I was actually quite happy to get my first issue, and I was even more surprised when I opened it: they didn’t just read my code, but accurately pointed out the parts of the design I was most proud of. He said he appreciated the “hard split between the model and deterministic checks”: grade_judge.py doesn’t trust the level of evidence reported by the model itself, but recalculates it from the downgrade items; argdown_lint.py catches argumentative leaps like “jumping from surrogate endpoints to hard endpoints.” Then he said he built an online portal for me, so visitors don’t need to install Claude Code and can just upload a PDF to run the critical appraisal workflow. He even made a promotional image: ...

The paper learning station I shared earlier had “Quality” and “Content” buttons, but I didn’t release the backend implementation back then. It was basically a platform with a frontend web page, but you still had to organize the backend yourself. But for my own setup, of course the backend still had to be wired to AI to reduce the cognitive load. So here I’m sharing those two backend skills to help speed up everyone’s learning! ...

📖 Saving Tokens series (four parts): Part 1: Why your AI gets dumber the more you chat · Part 2: Don’t boot up a supercomputer if an abacus will do · Part 3: Setting up a clean desk for your AI · Part 4 (this post, the finale) We’ve arrived at the final post of the series. Over the first three parts, we went from “why your AI gets dumber the more you chat” all the way to “when not to use AI” and “how to clean up its desk.” This post is about the moment you actually spend the money: how to make every penny count. ...

📖 Token Saving Series (4 parts): Part 1: Why your AI gets dumber the longer you chat · Part 2 (This post) · Part 3: Clearing a clean desk for your AI · Part 4: I built a budget dashboard for my AI In the previous post, we talked about how longer AI chats get more expensive and dumber, along with three ways to save right now. This post takes it a step further to discuss a more fundamental divide: ...

📖 The Token Saving Series (4 parts): Part 1: Why your AI gets dumber the more you chat · Part 2: If an abacus works, don’t boot up a supercomputer · Part 3 (This post) · Part 4: I built a budget dashboard for my AI The first two posts were still at the “everyone can use this” level. Starting with this one, I’ll show you the setup on my computer that I’ve endlessly tinkered with. ...

📖 Token Saving Series (4 parts in total): Part 1 (this post) · Part 2: If an Abacus Works, Don’t Boot Up a Supercomputer · Part 3: Organizing a Clean Desk for AI · Part 4: I Installed a Budget Dashboard for AI You’ve definitely had this experience: you chat with ChatGPT or Claude for an afternoon, and the longer it goes, the more sluggish it gets. It replies slower, suddenly “forgets” what you said earlier, or even starts talking in circles. ...