AI Lab · by Amina Okafor · 2026-09-27

A surprisingly useful lesson from the corner shop in Buenos Aires

Part of me wanted the fancy version with all the tools. The better version was boring: one notebook, one reminder, and a willingness to be clumsy with the playlist for a while.

This is probably obvious to veterans here, but it clicked for me only recently. tools got easier when I stopped treating every attempt like a final exam.

> Tiny progress is still progress.

That line sounds cheesy, but it got me through the part where ethics stopped feeling new.

28 sparks · 8 comments

Comments

Giulia Rossi · 7 likes

Anecdotally, this tracks with what I have seen. I would write it down before changing anything else.

Mina Chowdhury · 6 likes

You just saved me a bad purchase.

Rafael Almeida · 5 likes

Same here. It took me too long to learn.

Lina Al Harbi · 2 likes

Thanks for making it less intimidating.

Amina Okafor · 0 likes

@silver_runner28 Beautifully concise.

Haruto Sato · 3 likes

I am cheering for this update. My friend tried it in Nairobi and had the opposite result.

Giulia Rossi · 3 likes

Helpful and not preachy, which is rare. I noticed the same thing in Cairo.

Nour Ali · 2 likes

This is one of those ideas that looks great online and falls apart on Tuesday. It reminds me of a very specific conversation near a tiny balcony.