#136 First Steps With Replit

Welcoming you back to our Productivity Edition.

I understand and empathize with anyone who’s suffering from AI fatigue. It can be exhausting seeing, hearing, and reading about artificial intelligence like it’s the only thing happening in the world.

But there’s a reason it’s everywhere you look: it’s going to change things drastically.

That’s why we dedicate an entire edition to it every month. For me personally, I feel the exhaustion sometimes, but I push forward because I know I have to. I need this knowledge for myself, and I need it for my future kids, for a better understanding of the world they’ll be growing up in.

I’ve said this before but I’ll say it again: there’s no ignoring it. There’s no denying it. There’s no “I don’t need it.” Imagine someone saying that during the Industrial Revolution about the steam engine. Or someone in the 90s saying it about the Internet. Or in the early 2000s about social media.

When life-changing technology comes around, the choice is simple: get on board, or get left behind.

My hope is that these Productivity Editions help inform and prepare you for the ride ahead.

Now, let’s get f#*$ after it!

AI HUMANS Prompted These Highlights!

• Workin’ With AI: My Experience with Replit 🚀 

• CROSSOVER: Expert Advice 🤝 Always Informed: 2 Must-Listen Podcast Episodes 📈 🚀 💰️

• Hustle Hub: Free Courses, Mark Cuban, and Perplexity💰️ 🚀 

EXPERT ADVICE 🤝 ALWAYS INFORMED

The Future of Employment

I almost wrote, “Drop everything and listen to these two podcast episodes,” but stopped myself.

First, finish reading this edition of OTF 🤣

Then, drop everything and pull up The Diary of a CEO with Steven Bartlett. Especially if you’re in the middle of a long commute. Each one is so damn informative, you’ll have learned so much by the time you get to work.

The only other thing I’ll say about the following episodes: try not to get turned off or frightened by the headlines. Do your best to go in with an open mind and digest what’s actually being said. As AI progresses, there will be massive changes; it’s better to be prepared than caught off-guard.

• AI AGENTS EMERGENCY DEBATE: These Jobs Won’t Exist in 24 Months, Containment Has Failed, We Must Prepare For What’s Coming!

• Roman Yampolskiy: These Are The Only 5 Jobs That Will Remain in 2030 & Proof We’re Living in a Simulation.

O.T.F. 
O.F.T - One Final Thought

Staying Always Informed is something I won’t give up on. I will listen to podcasts about it. I will read about it. I will write about it.

Until AI takes my job. (jk…maybe…?)

But by the time that happens, I’ll be ready for what’s next.

WORKING WITH AI 🤖 

Whatcha Know About Replit!?

If you recall, last month’s AI edition featured AI agents…more specifically, what they are, what they do, and how they work together.

This month, I wanted to talk about an AI tool I’ve been flirting with for the last couple months. (Don’t tell my future wife.) It’s called Replit.

What is Replit? Look no further than its home page:

“Turn your ideas into apps.”

Here’s a little bit about my experience so far:

I decided that I wanted to create an app that A) helps me improve as a writer and B) motivates me to write every day. Nothing major. A couple sentences here and there to stay sharp and document my journey.

So I prompted (and re-prompted and re-re-prompted) the “agent” - more on this in a bit - until it produced something that I was satisfied with. Just like with ChatGPT and other generative AI, it’s all about how you prompt it.

Here’s an example from the website’s sign-in page:

At this point, I haven’t devoted enough time and effort to my idea, but considering my time constraints and energy directed elsewhere, I feel like what it’s produced is pretty good for a beginner.

So how does Replit take a prompt and turn it into a functional app? It’s all about the agent.

This Replit agent “is a specific AI-powered tool within the Replit platform designed to assist users in building software projects. It functions by interpreting natural language prompts to create applications, set up development environments, install dependencies, write code, and even deploy applications. This distinguishes it from being merely an ‘AI assistant’ that provides code suggestions or explanations, as it actively takes steps to build and manage software based on user instructions.”

It’s as simple as that. When you share your idea, be as specific and clear as possible, and let the agent handle the rest. Then, go back and adjust as necessary.

I’ve enjoyed the experience so far, even though I’m nowhere close to a finished product that I’d share with the world.

In the CONS column, it can be time-consuming and frustrating when the agent can’t complete your vision despite all the revised prompting. There are also bugs / errors that pop up from time to time so you have to be patient as the AI progresses.

However, for me, the PROS far outweigh those minor annoyances. I’ve always wanted to bring app ideas to life, but I can’t code, so to be honest, this is a godsend. Now anyone with an idea can turn it into something that can eventually be brought to market or shared online. Pretty epic when you think about it.

PS: I pay $25 a month for Replit.

HUSTLE HUB  📈 

YOUR SUCCESS:

Be Knowledgeable - An account I follow on Substack called Gencay I does an amazing job sharing AI resources, including links to dozens of free classes, videos, etc. He shared this four days ago: 20 free courses, courtesy of platforms like Coursera, LinkedIn, and Google, just to name a few.

(Previous posts shared free courses you could take through Harvard and Columbia, Amazon and IBM, or focused on specific tools like Claude. Check out the newsletter here if you want to see more.)

THEIR SUCCESS:

Be Inspired Warned - Mark Cuban has two words for anyone resistant to learning AI.

YOUR SUCCESS:

Be…Perplexed? Perplexity is an AI tool that we haven’t given enough love to in these editions. But if you wanna check it out for yourself, here are 7 prompts to help you get started.

Before You Go

We hope you enjoyed our natural intelligence 😏 this time around!

Next week, we’ll be back with September’s MONEY EDITION, featuring Making Cents and much, much more.

As always, see you next Tuesday!

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You are now On The Fly & In The Know.