AI can speed up coding - but you still need to solve a problem

There are many ways that time-to-code has been sped up, with advances in technology.

Templates can take care of boilerplate code.

Autocomplete saves you from typing the same thing over and over.

Low code / no code tools can help you quickly build a prototype - or even a functioning product (with limits).

Now, AI can write code for you.

That’s a lot of ways to remove coding roadblocks.

But it doesn’t take away from the need to identify the problem that you want to solve.

While you can pretty much build anything - don’t try to build EVERYTHING.

You still have to be selective in what you build.

“Build it and they will come” doesn’t hold true in a world where a lot of people are trying to build something.

New music

On Friday 31st January, I released a new track - “Wasted on Your Love”.

Described by a fan as “not bad”, it’s currently my most popular track on Soundcloud, with over 2,200 plays. Not bad!

Listen to the track on Spotify.

FAWM 2025: a songwriting challenge

As if that wasn’t enough new music - there’s more coming.

It’s already February, and I’m participating in FAWM - a songwriting challenge - for the third year running, and the sixth time overall.

The goal is to write 14 songs in 28 days. It’s a great motivator, and I find it pushes me to complete tracks faster than I normally would.

My attempts to date:

2007 - 16 tracks - This first attempt led to a self-produced album called “The Unravelling of Travelling”. It’s no longer online, but might be re-released someday.

2017 - 16 tracks - After a 10 year break, I decided to have another go at FAWM. These tracks led to a self-produced album called “Ten”. A few of the tracks have been re-released since then.

2018 - 14 tracks - Most of the tracks from 2018 became my album "Singularity". I originally released this in 2018, and re-released it in 2022 as my 2nd album on streaming sites.

2023 - 15 tracks - Some of these tracks ended up on my 3rd album, “Distant Destinations”.

2024 - 14 tracks - Some of the tracks formed my 4th album, “Mind the Gap”.

2025 - TBC - 1 track so far. You can follow my progress in my FAWM 2025 playlist.

That’s all for now. Hope you have a great week.

Thanks for reading.

Ben