subairui

Hi HN,

I'm the author!

This article grew out of my master's thesis presentation at NYU ITP. While building creative coding tools over the past few years, I started wondering why we still write code when AI can increasingly generate it for us.

My conclusion isn't that coding is becoming less important. It’s that coding is valuable because toolmaking is one of the fastest ways to learn. The article expands on that idea through examples from projects I've built, including Recho.

Happy to answer questions or discuss.

Thanks, twosky! That's a really interesting idea. I'll play around with it and see where it leads!

Thanks zoom6628!

Thanks infinitebit!

Thanks, elnatro. And yes, of course! The “seals” are made with a project I built called APack. You can try it here: https://apack.bairui.dev/

Thanks, iJohnDoe! That's exactly the whole point. I want more people to engage with it!

Thanks passiflora96! I'll share more when I build more!

Hi yardshop, thanks for the kind words and the wonderful suggestion. I just updated the project so you can zoom in much further than before. Feel free to try it again!

Thanks mirsh0! I hope you enjoy it!

Thanks rdksu. This means a lot to me. I just added the download feature. Now you can download your name as a PNG or SVG!

Thanks, Invictus1001! I use a deterministic algorithm to convert a name into a tree, so the same input always generates the same result. I'm glad you enjoyed exploring the different patterns—repeated characters often create some particularly interesting structures!

I just added tooltips on Generate and Add to Archive so it’s clear your camera image isn’t stored, and only the line drawing is saved if you choose to archive it. Thanks for the great feedback again!

Thanks, joey9prints!

Yes, it's a bit generic right now, and there's definitely room for improvement. I just checked out Paul Richard's work—it looks amazing and highly relevant.

Also, by default, I don't store either the original image or the generated result. The generated image is only saved if you explicitly click "Archive," and you can delete it whenever you'd like.

I just added a tiny database to the project, so generated faces can now be added to the community archive! Feel free to contribute yours!

https://bio.bairui.dev/

By the way, I have another project called Name2Tree, which transforms your name into a unique, deterministic tree. It also features an archive page that you might enjoy exploring. If you're interested, check it out here:

https://tree.bairui.dev/

I just added a tiny database! Although you've already submitted a PR, thanks for the great suggestion! I really appreciate it.

I just added a tiny database. Please try it again. Thanks for this valuable suggestion!

https://tree.bairui.dev/

Lol, what's in your mind? sakuraiben!

Glad to hear that! Hope you enjoy it!

Hi Tommylin, sorry to hear that. Is it working now?

Thank you so much! That means a lot to me. I was hoping the archive would feel like a collective artwork created by everyone who participated!

Thanks, Persedes! You're right, beards and hats are tricky. I haven't found a reliable way to handle them yet. If you have any ideas on how to solve this, I'd love to hear them. Contributions and PRs are always welcome: https://github.com/pearmini/bio-glyph

Thanks, ericfr4! If more than one person finds it valuable, I'll add a simple database.

Thanks, Twosdai! My initial hesitation about adding a database wasn't really about technical complexity, but more about keeping the product and design simple. A few questions came to mind:

- Do we need accounts? If so, would that add too much friction? If not, could we identify users anonymously through a browser-generated ID?

- As more trees are generated, will the visualization become difficult to manage? Perhaps we only display a subset of them?

- How should we handle inappropriate or offensive inputs? I imagine we could use a moderation library or filter.

My main goal is to keep the experience lightweight and focused on the generation itself. That said, if a database would make participation easier and lead to a better overall experience, I'm definitely open to it.

What's your take? I'd love to hear what's on your mind.