How artificial intelligence can be used to make your own personalised app

A Dubai web developer has highlighted the game-changing potential of advanced technology

Web developer Dom Monhardt said coders could become the most vulnerable to the rise of AI, He used ChatGPT to build a banking app with little knowledge of computer programming. Antonie Robertson / The NationalShow less

The remarkable rise of artificial intelligence has demonstrated how times change rapidly in the brave new world of advanced technology.

If you cast your mind back to the early 2010s, the phrase 'There's an app for that' was so buzz-worthy it was trademarked by tech giants Apple.

Little more than a decade later and we may soon be saying 'there is an AI for that'.

OpenAI's ChatGPT has served as the poster child for an artificial intelligence revolution, in which more than 2,000 cutting-edge AI tools hitting the market in a matter of weeks.

Developments in AI are moving at breakneck speed and will no doubt change the way in which many of us work

Karl Escritt,
CEO of Like Digital & Partners

Its time-saving prompts captured headlines around the world, with other innovations including automated travel planning and machine learning to help medics sift through thousands of radiology scans for faster medical diagnostics.

While some industries are set to face more disruption than others, coding — the process of computer programming — is a skill that could be taken over by AI.

Cracking the code

Most people are confined to using the apps available on their phone, but now if you cannot find the app you want, you could just build it yourself.

Dom Monhardt, a technologist and designer used ChatGPT to write code to create his own personal banking app.

It is an example of how AI is opening access to once complicated skills and processes, he said.

“Generating code using ChatGPT was a magical moment,” said Mr Monhardt, a senior director of design at financial firm Tap Payments in Dubai.

“As a designer, I had never seen the process of writing code before so it was fascinating.

“I had some knowledge in development, but I was always unable to develop my own ideas.

“Working in banking, there were so many pain points and I was never able to cover the costs of development to work on my ideas.

“Now I just use the tool, it gives me the code back and I make my own app.”

Via his own personalised banking app, Mr Monhardt can keep track of all his transactions regardless of which bank he used.

This was done using the transaction SMS alerts sent by banks that were then transferred to a secure central database using a python script, a computer programming language used to build websites.

Mr Monhardt also developed an app that helps him craft more individual automatic responses to emails.

Other new public applications of AI include Agent GPT which plans and executes strategies such as how to set up a business, while Tripnotes takes the legwork out of planning a holiday by selecting the best places to visit and where to stay.

Krisp uses AI to eliminate background noise from an online video meeting and Gamma utilises the technology to created slide decks, presentations and websites.

$300 billion global spend

As more companies incorporate AI-centric systems into business operations, global spending on the technology is expected to reach $300 billion by 2026, according to International Data Corporation (IDC) analysts.

And as AI becomes more capable of performing labour intensive tasks, some jobs are likely to come under threat.

Fortunately, experts say a need for human input will remain.

“Developments in AI are moving at breakneck speed and will no doubt change the way in which many of us work in the near future,” said Karl Escritt, CEO of Like Digital & Partners, a Dubai agency that assists businesses in their digital transformation.

“It’s unlikely that highly skilled web development and coding jobs will be affected.

“Many tasks will become more automated with the further introduction of AI tools — debugging and testing, to name just a few."

Rise of AI - in pictures

Tesla's AI Day 2022 livestream introduced the humanoid robot Optimus as it walks on stage in Palo Alto, California. All photos: AFP

Optimus waves to guests at Tesla's AI Day in Calfornia.

Humanoid robot Optimus was on stage as Tesla set out its plans for an AI future.

Tesla chief executive Elon Musk explains how the Optimus humanoid robot project will evolve.

The event took place in Tesla's office in Palo Alto, California.

“There's still a lot of work to be done to refine Optimus and prove it,” Mr Musk told guests at the event.

Elon Musk said Optimus would be an 'extremely capable robot' that Tesla would aim to produce in the millions and perhaps cost less than $20,000 per unit.