What Can Non-Engineers Do with AI Coding?
Preface
This article shares what a designer with a non-engineer background (that's me) has actually done with AI coding.
Many people might think: "I'm not an engineer, why should I learn AI coding?" or "Can programs written by AI really be used?"
This article uses my actual cases to tell you: They really work, and they work great!
1. PDF Splitting Tool 📄
Pain Point
Sometimes I need to split a large PDF file into several parts. Free online tools usually have file size limits or require you to register as a member.
Solution
I used Cursor to write a simple Python script. You can drag a PDF file in, input the number of pages to split, and it automatically cuts it for me.
Result
Completely free, no file size limits, no need to upload files (protects privacy).
2. Face Cropping Tool 🖼️
Pain Point
Sometimes I need to crop faces from a batch of photos to train AI models. If I crop one by one, 20 photos would take forever.
Solution
I asked AI to write a Python program that uses the OpenCV library to automatically detect faces, then crops the face portions and saves them as new images.
Result
20 photos, all cropped in less than 10 seconds. This is the power of automation!
3. Batch File Renaming Tool 📂
Pain Point
When organizing photos or assets, I often need to change a bunch of random filenames to organized names (e.g., Photo_01, Photo_02...).
Solution
Also wrote a small tool in Python. Select a folder, input the desired filename format, and rename everything with one click.
Result
No more right-clicking to rename one by one. The time saved can be used for more productive things.
Conclusion
Honestly, these tools don't have high technical content. If a professional engineer did it, they could probably write them in minutes.
But for non-engineers like us, AI has given us the ability to "solve problems."
Before, when we encountered these problems, we could only find existing tools (which might require payment, have ads, or have risks), or spend lots of time handling things manually.
Now, we can use AI to build tools that are most suitable for ourselves. This is what I find most fascinating about AI coding.
