It’s hard to overstate the implications of what I discovered this week.

I can now code despite never learning how.

It’s a breakthrough that’s been on my radar for over a year. I touched on it in a post from August 2023, about the importance of judgment and taste in a world of infinite leverage.

That world is now here. New tools are coming online each day to hand the power of code to creatives. What a time to be alive!

Machines can take instructions in English and spit out code.

Here’s what happened.

I stumbled across this really interesting company called Create.xyz (not sponsored, just a fan) that lets you prompt an artificial intelligence like ChatGPT or Gemini in English and have it write code for you. Then, you can run the application and iterate on it with additional prompts.

The feedback loop looks like this:

I write English prompt → AI writes code → I test code → I iterate on prompt → AI writes new code → I test code → I iterate on prompt → etc.

So, to test all this out, I decided to build a screenwriting application that would auto-format my writing into proper screenplay format.

If you’re not sure what that looks like, here’s an example:

To begin, I collaborated with ChatGPT and Create.xyz to build a screenwriting application that could do two things:

1. understand what a SLUGLINE is (the first line on the page above that reads EXT. UPSCALE MODERN HOME - NIGHT), and

2. Format the SLUGLINE correctly on the page.

And I built it.

In the example below, my text input is on the left side of the screen, and on the right side is the text automatically formatting correctly in real-time into screenplay form.

Notices the margin and capitalization on the right side generally match the screenplay example above.

Getting to this point took me about a day. It wasn’t easy and it wasn’t quick, but it was possible.

And here’s the best part: this was the hardest it will ever be.

This is the worst this tech will ever be.

I’m starting to play with this now because this is the worst it will ever be. The technology will rapidly improve and I want to keep up.

Even at this stage, I was able to upload screenshots of my own screenplays to give the AI an example of the formatting I wanted. It then used that information to iterate on the code.

And the feedback loop is crazy fast!

AI writes the code in just seconds, then I can run the code, play with it to figure out what’s working and not working, and then relay that information back to the AI, where it updates the code again in seconds.

And here’s the kicker that really gets me excited: it’s not writing the code from scratch each time.

Instead, it’s iterating on what already works to improve it.

In that way, it’s capturing the power of slow, incremental constant progress - which is the most powerful force you can harness.

With constant iteration in the right direction, you can start small and building anything you like.

Build something cool.

If you’re wondering about this tech, just do what I did and start building something small.

Create.xyz has a free trial that I used to get started.

Right now, my “stack” consists of a ChatGPT Pro subscription and a subscription to Replit - which is more advanced than Create.xyz but gives me more direct control over the code along with an environment to run it in.

Try to practice extreme patience.

Like any new skill, this will take a lot of time to figure out. And loads of trial and error before you build anything worth using.

But with the direction this tech is moving in, those who hop on the train now will be well rewarded.

Thanks for reading.

-Thomas

P.S. want to…