The REALITY of AI Projects in 2026

With generative AI. It's now super easy to start building an app, even if you don't know how to code.

I've used generative AI to write JavaScript for me. I've used it to build a Joomla plugin and recently, to prototype a Movie Shapes app.

These are all projects I could NOT have done on my own. I'm not a developer.

AI has extended what I can do. It can also extend what you do. 

Much like other technologies and software have extended my (and your) capabilities. The difference with a system like Joomla, which manages website content, is that Joomla is built by a community over time for the community.

With AI, tools like Joomla can be built in a weekend or several months instead of several years, and they can be tailor-made for a select group of niche needs.

AI Development Obstacles & The Value of Developers

But, there have been many obstacles I've faced, using AI to help me with these projects, that my extensive experience working with servers, content management systems, and website building has helped me work through. It would have been difficult to navigate these challenges without my experience and expertise. And by working with AI, I'm understanding software development and AI processing in ways I had not understood.

So, someone needs to know what they're doing to get AI to work for them, at least enough to stumble through it. But that means this is something you want to be doing or get good at doing. Or you have to be willing to fail and make mistakes until you get a handle on things.

So if it's so easy to build something with AI, what's the value of a developer or even a freelancer who can use AI to develop apps?

As I got deeper into my Movie Shapes project, it became more complex, interconnected, and personally overwhelming. Getting started with this much power from AI is easy. Continuing and maintaining is where the friction escalates. Decisions have to be made.

There are many apps I'm now using where I've realized I could build an app to do that thing. But then I have to build AND maintain that built thing. Removing the time and cost barrier now makes AI-developed things much more tempting. But it means we are much more prone to the types of distractions that can actually keep us from moving towards our goals.

That means there is value in someone else maintaining a resource, so you (or I) can focus on using it. There is value in working with people to oversee things we do want to build, even if that oversight or that work itself is something I can do or do with AI.

Structure, Visibility, and Clarity

The process of building with AI on my Movie Shapes project revealed that structure and clarity of outcomes are key to making good apps, with or without AI. The Movie Shapes framework has been around for years, and it provided a benefit that would have made the project difficult and less compelling.

But it also revealed that having visibility on what the AI builds, how the app works, and how it's operating behind the scenes is necessary for finishing the project construction and maintaining it thereafter. These are part of the reason you want someone who knows what they're doing. A black box AI built system is hard to get a handle on, update, and maintain. Blind spots are going to be a challenge with AI. We don't know what we don't know. At least we can ask AI to point out any blind spots we might be missing.

Infused and Separate

Constructive developmental theory is an understanding of how we make meaning in life and how that evolves as we mature.

Part of the shift in how we make meaning as we grow is separating ourselves from the environments in which we inhabit. When we're a member of a group, and we make meaning as a member of the group, we're also captured by that group dynamic. The level up is when we recognize that the group is separate from us. And we from it. We are both an individual part and a part of the group.

AI is shifting how we see ourselves as part of the world we inhabit and the work we do. It's an opportunity for us to ground our purpose in something beyond our work, but it's a scary transition to make. If we're doing it unwillingly, the fear is even higher. We don't understand what's changing, and we don't know how we'll land when things settle, if they ever do. That uncertainty is anxiety-inducing.

If we willingly take the scary step, it helps us actually better navigate the shifting environment and also utilize AI. And it helps us know how others can provide value in this new era. Because there will still be dependencies, they're just going to shift quite dramatically. And it may force changes in our lives in ways we weren't ready for, but we can certainly embrace.