This article grew out of my master's thesis presentation at NYU ITP. While building creative coding tools over the past few years, I started wondering why we still write code when AI can increasingly generate it for us.
My conclusion isn't that coding is becoming less important. It’s that coding is valuable because toolmaking is one of the fastest ways to learn. The article expands on that idea through examples from projects I've built, including Recho.
Hi yardshop, thanks for the kind words and the wonderful suggestion. I just updated the project so you can zoom in much further than before. Feel free to try it again!
Thanks, Invictus1001! I use a deterministic algorithm to convert a name into a tree, so the same input always generates the same result. I'm glad you enjoyed exploring the different patterns—repeated characters often create some particularly interesting structures!
I just added tooltips on Generate and Add to Archive so it’s clear your camera image isn’t stored, and only the line drawing is saved if you choose to archive it. Thanks for the great feedback again!
Yes, it's a bit generic right now, and there's definitely room for improvement. I just checked out Paul Richard's work—it looks amazing and highly relevant.
Also, by default, I don't store either the original image or the generated result. The generated image is only saved if you explicitly click "Archive," and you can delete it whenever you'd like.
By the way, I have another project called Name2Tree, which transforms your name into a unique, deterministic tree. It also features an archive page that you might enjoy exploring. If you're interested, check it out here: