Rat Rod AI: A Personal Philosophy for the Age of Cognitive Augmentation
Howdy, AI enthusiasts and curious minds!
Today, I want to share something a bit different - not the latest AI breakthrough or a polished new tool, but my personal philosophy on AI development and cognitive augmentation.
I call it the "Rat Rod Approach to AI," and it's become a consistent through-line in how I create and interact with AI tools.
The Spark: From Hot Rods to Neural Nets
You know what's beautiful? Solving your own problem. And rarely does that solution need to come with frills. If it works, it works.
This realization hit me when I stumbled upon the world of rat rods while watching one of my favorite shows… American Pickers.
For the uninitiated, rat rods are these raw, stripped-down custom cars that prioritize function over form.
They're built to be driven hard, not just admired from afar.
In many ways, they're the outsider art of hot rod culture, freed from conventional constraints. To put it lightly, they are weird and each one is extremely unique.
As an AI explorer and solution designer, I realized I shared key elements of this philosophy in my approach to AI-driven augmentation.
Call it outsider science, outsider AI engineering, or whatever you like - it's about crafting AI solutions that are as unique as our own cognitive processes.
From MVP to Minimum Viable Augmentation
Even before the AI boom, I was always a 0-1 focused MVP builder in emerging tech – a true prototyper at heart.
Now, in the AI era, I'm still playing that same game, but I call it minimum viable augmentation. (Clearly, I like minimum viable things.)
As mainstream AI tools have become increasingly polished and user-friendly, I've found myself frustrated by their limitations.
It often feels like we're taking a smart new paradigm and pouring it backward into an old way of doing things.
That's where the rat rod philosophy comes in handy.
OSUI: Rat Rod AI in Action
Let me introduce you to OSUI (Ollama Shortcuts UI), a tool I've built that embodies my rat rod AI philosophy.
It's a piece of software that combines Ollama API calls with Apple Shortcuts to produce AI workflows that run locally on Mac.
OSUI is powerful – it includes tools for creating workflows agentically and having an AI prefill and run workflows with synthetic data.
But here's the kicker: it has no sleek UI. It's all herky-jerky, with a Tkinter GUI and a monolithic script where JavaScript, Python, and HTML all share the same file.
Just like a rat rod might repurpose a rifle as a gear shifter or a hand saw as a sun visor, OSUI repurposes existing tools in unconventional ways.
It's not pretty, but it works for me. And that's the point.
The Heart of Rat Rod AI
At its core, my rat rod approach to AI is about:
Cognition as a Systems Design Primitive: I treat human-AI cognitive processes as fundamental building blocks in system architecture. It's about designing at the junction of human thought patterns and machine-ready context.
Raw Functionality Over Polish: If it solves the problem powerfully, it's beautiful. No chrome needed.
Personal Expression: These tools are a form of cognitive self-expression, built to suit my needs and my capabilities.
Built to be Used: These aren't showpieces. They're meant to be used daily, pushed to their limits, and constantly improved.
Rapid Iteration: Build fast, test, rebuild. Rinse and repeat. Embrace imperfection in the pursuit of functionality.
Repurposing and Reimagining: Just as rat rodders might use non-automotive parts creatively, I combine various coding tools and AI capabilities in unconventional manners.
Why This Matters (To Me, and Maybe to You)
We're living in an age where AI is redefining human capability.
The rat rod approach to AI is about pushing your own envelope, focusing on raw functionality and personal augmentation.
It's not about creating mass-market products, but about individuals finding their own paths to harness AI's transformative power.
It's a reinterpretation of how we interact with AI, similar to how rat rods reinterpret classic hot rod culture.
I do understand that this approach isn't for everyone, though.
Traditional developers or UI/UX designers might raise an eyebrow, saying these rat rod ideas are unpolished or not user-friendly enough.
To them, I say: That's the point.
This isn't about creating a product for others.
It's about pushing the boundaries of what's possible when you strip away the constraints of conventional design and focus on pure functionality for personal use.
The Challenges and the Payoff
This path does have its challenges:
It often requires more technical knowledge of AI. Luckily, collaborating with AI directly eases this learning curve.
It demands deeper self-knowledge – you need to understand your own cognition to amplify it effectively. Again, LLMs can help you externalize this if you’re unfamiliar with your own cognitive fingerprint.
It's a personal commitment to acceleration – these tools aren’t as likely to translate well for others, so you’re truly building for yourself.
But for those willing to get their hands dirty, the payoff is enormous.
There's a unique satisfaction in creating and using a tool that's perfectly tailored to your own cognitive processes.
The Road Ahead
As we push further into the AI era, I believe this personalized, stripped-down approach to augmentation will become increasingly valuable.
While many people are focused on creating the next big AI platform, I think there’s also an opportunity for individuals to leverage AI in the ways that work best for them. In doing so, we can experience a deeper level of integration with these new tools than the ones designed for universal appeal.
In my future posts, I'll be sharing more about the specific tools and techniques I'm developing.
Some might work for you, others might seem completely off the wall. And that's okay! The point is to inspire you to think differently about how you interact with AI.
The rat rod philosophy reminds us that there's beauty in functionality, value in personal expression, and power in bucking the mainstream trend.
As you explore AI augmentation, I encourage you to experiment, to get your hands dirty, and to build your own cognitive rat rod.
After all, in the world of personal AI augmentation, the most beautiful solution is the one that solves your unique problem. Everything else is just chrome. ;)
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If you’re interested in working with me to design AI systems that match your personal or professional needs, reach out and say hello.
