Learning by Doing: My Daring GenAI 30-Project Challenge

Would you take on an unknown challenge out of pure curiosity?

Image generated via ChatGPT

Generative AI in Everyday Life

Generative AI technology is everywhere these days. It’s so integrated into our online lives that you’re probably using it without even realizing it.

Personally, as a heavy GenAI user, I rely on it for almost everything — writing code snippets, polishing emails, reviewing drafts, generating images, organizing my reading, and answering all sorts of questions.

But here’s the thing:

Beyond tools like ChatGPT and a handful of others, I know surprisingly little about the underlying technology.

The Role of GenAI in an Indie Hustle

I’ve always wondered: Could GenAI help me build an indie hustle?

Whether it’s creating content more efficiently or integrating GenAI models into a SaaS product, the possibilities seem endless.

With this thought in mind, I dove into a world completely new to me. I’ve been reading tons of articles, and I must admit — I didn’t understand a lot of the technical jargon at first.

Terms like “Hugging Face,” “foundation models,” or even concepts like “stable diffusion” I’ve heard in the news seemed distant and complex.

On top of that, the world of indie culture and solopreneurship was entirely new to me. Concepts like “fast building and shipping” blew my mind.

It was wonderful to read about all these technologies. Reading about these topics filled me with excitement — I even tried converting some of my new found knowledge into articles.

Getting to Know CLIP: the Ultimate Image Matcher

But something was missing. I felt aloof and disconnected because:

I wasn’t actively doing anything.

I lacked the joy of involvement, the sense of devotion, and the confidence that comes from truly understanding something because you’ve experienced it firsthand.

I realized I didn’t just want to read or write about GenAI; I wanted to roll up my sleeves and build with it.

The Casual GenAI 30-Project Challenge

So, here I am, launching the GenAI 30-Project Casual Challenge!

Why “casual”?

Because I honestly have no idea what I’m getting myself into. I just know I want to push myself to build something tangible. Maybe, just maybe, magic will happen if I build past the point of uncertainty.

The plan?

I’ll tackle one new project roughly every 1–2 weeks (except for the two weeks around Christmas and New Year when I’d be forbidden to touch the computer).

The project ideas will come from my personal desire, tech articles, social platforms, YouTube videos, or even ChatGPT suggestions.

Each project will explore a different aspect of generative AI and product building.

In the building the project, I’ll share:

• The tools and technologies I used.

• How the process went: the challenges, the “aha” moments, and the lessons learned.

At the end of each project, I’ll try to launch it somewhere and announce it in an article on Medium.

This challenge isn’t just about completing 30 projects; it’s about experimenting, learning, and seeing how far I can go with GenAI.

Final Thoughts

This is my first time diving deep into AI to create something practical, and I couldn’t be more excited — or curious — to see what I’ll learn along the way.

If you’re also exploring GenAI or thinking about starting your own projects, let’s learn together. Who knows what amazing ideas we can bring to life?

The journey starts here. Stay tuned for updates on the first project — I can’t wait to share the adventure with you!