The fourth installment of Dominic Chen’s series Fermentation and Generation: The “Beast Paths” — An Alternative to Information Technology, titled “Getting Started with Pickles,” has been published in the web magazine Plain living, high thinking.
This article introduces the simple operating principle and design philosophy of Pickles, a service in which generative AI reads a week’s worth of journal entries and returns prompts for insight and reflection via email. By deliberately automating tasks that could be done manually, and through ongoing experimentation in “growing” prompts and building systems capable of referencing long-term data, the project is also framed as a form of research into maintaining an appropriate distance from AI. The piece further details rapid prototyping through vibe coding with generative AI, collaboration with an engineer, and processes of consensus-building through version control. Under the guiding principle of not entrusting meaning-making too fully to AI, it traces the moment when the team moves into “dogfooding,” continuing to use the completed MVP in their own daily lives.
Fourth article:
