Issue #001: Why Human in the Loop?

September 30 2025

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Let's dive right in.

The Philosophy

Recent projects like PHAiTO and Tether taught me something fundamental: AI tools work best when I actively guide them.

Take Tether. I gave Claude Code requirements for SMS and Telegram integration, but wasn’t specific enough. It over-engineered everything. So I rolled back and tried something different. I had Claude ask me questions, one at a time, building on each answer. After 15 minutes, we had solid requirements. Then Claude built exactly what I needed.

That’s when it clicked: human-in-the-loop isn’t about oversight, it’s about dialogue and iteration. This is a crucial distinction; it’s about actively guiding the AI through the problem-solving process, architecting the solution, and iterating together.

The AI Reality Check

Some CEOs are measuring “AI usage frequency” in performance reviews, as if frequency equates to productivity.

The “prompt and forget” or “one-shot” approach? Great marketing. However, you still need to architect solutions, think through problems, and review outputs.

What Actually Works

Introduce thinking steps into your AI coding flows. Have guided conversations. Write detailed specs and architect the solutions. You don’t need to write every line of code anymore. Instead, transfer your knowledge through detailed specs. Your years of experience aren’t in typing code, they’re in knowing what to build and why. Detailed specs transfer that wisdom. It’s the difference between ‘make it work’ and ‘make it work the way our users need it to work, with the constraints we face.’ Give AI the guidance you’d give a junior developer.

Claude Code is the best junior developer I’ve ever worked with.

What stays human? Setting direction. Translating business needs to code. Managing context. Reviewing and testing. These aren’t just tasks—they’re what makes us architects rather than assemblers.

AI is a partner, and a heck of a good one. It’s not replacing you… it’s augmenting your work. Learn to leverage it. That’s how you’ll win.

The human stays in the loop. Always.

What I’m Working On

Current Projects

PHAiTO - Lightroom AI that actually understands photography. We’re building tools that let photographers edit entire catalogs in minutes, not hours. The AI handles the tedious work while photographers maintain creative control, human in the loop for photographers.

Tether - Get SMS verification codes anywhere, no SIM card required. Born from my digital nomad lifestyle, Tether solves a real problem for remote workers and travelers. Currently in active development with the MVP launching in the next 2 weeks or so.

I’m also working on a few other projects that I’ll be announcing in the coming weeks, please stay tuned!

Available for Projects: I take on select consulting and development projects. If you’re building something interesting and need help with architecture, AI integration, or just want another senior engineer’s perspective, let’s talk.

Cool Things From the Community

📋 Spec-Driven Development

Brian Casel, the creator of AgentOS (an excellent tool I've been using everyday) just dropped an excellent video on Spec Driven Development. This ties directly into what I’ve been saying about detailed specs. Brian shows the practical workflow of turning ideas into specs that AI can actually execute on. If you’re using AgentOS (or just curious about it), this is required viewing.

🛠️ Tools I’m Testing

I’ve been using Claude Code extensively (as you might have noticed from my examples), but I’ll be trying OpenCode soon. Expect a detailed comparison in a future issue. I’m particularly interested in how they handle context windows and spec writing.

Wispr Flow - I tried a few different voice dictation apps over the last weeks, but kept coming back to Wispr Flow as the most reliable one (especially for dev-talk). It's been a game-changer for getting thoughts out quickly, especially when you’re iterating on AI prompts. The transcription speed + quality is impressive and beats out the other apps I tried competing in this space.

🎸 Something Fun

My 11-year-old nephew Max just launched his YouTube music channel. This kid is genuinely talented—mark my words, he’ll be in everyone’s Spotify feeds in a few years. Check him out and give him a like & subscribe, it’d mean the world!

Want to share your project here? Just hit reply and tell me what you’re building. I love featuring interesting work from the community.

That’s it for issue #001. I’d love to hear your thoughts—what resonated? What would you like to see more of? Just hit reply and let me know.

Keep shipping,
Joey

P.S. If you found this valuable, forward it to someone who’s figuring out their AI workflow. They can sign up at jkudish.com/newsletter.