wtf is ai-notes?

AI Notes is a curated collection of links, references, and observations about the state of generative AI, compiled by swyx as the raw research material behind his newsletter. It originally focused narrowly on prompt engineering but was broadened when the author concluded that prompt engineering alone was overhyped relative to the bigger picture of what generative AI can do. The repo is essentially a structured bookmark collection organized into markdown files by category. The most developed file covers image generation, with heavy emphasis on Stable Diffusion, Midjourney, and DALL-E. Other files track text generation (mainly GPT-3), code generation tools like Copilot, and lighter stubs on emerging areas like autonomous AI agents and audio. The main README serves as a high-level overview linking to these files and also curates motivational use cases, recommended reads, community spaces, people to follow, and notes on infrastructure, legal, and ethical considerations. This is useful for founders, product managers, or anyone trying to get oriented in the generative AI landscape. If you want to see what people are building with AI-generated images, video, code, or text, the use-case section links to real examples ranging from synthetic brain imaging to AI-assisted fashion design to music video generation. The recommended reads are tiered from beginner-friendly introductions to deep technical explainers, so you can find your level. The people and communities sections give you a ready-made starting point for following the conversation in real time. One thing worth noting is that the collection captures a specific moment in time, primarily from 2022, when Stable Diffusion had just launched and the generative AI space was exploding with experimentation. Some links and references may have aged, but as a snapshot of how the field was evolving and what excited practitioners at the time, it remains a valuable resource.