Summer Solstice and Generative AI
AI has made it possible for almost anyone to build small tools they've wanted to create for years.
I've always been fascinated by astronomy. One phenomenon that particularly interests me is the Summer Solstice. Every June 21st, the Sun reaches its northernmost position, directly above the Tropic of Cancer (23.4° N). Objects cast almost no shadow at local noon. It's the longest day of the year.
After moving to the UAE (where the Tropic of Cancer passes through), I wanted to find a place where I could experience this phenomenon. Surprisingly, I couldn't find a simple tool that showed the Tropic of Cancer or the subsolar point on an interactive map. Even Google Maps doesn't display these lines. I also didn't know the mathematics to build such a tool myself.
That's where AI came in. I described exactly what I wanted to AI, and together we built a single-page web app that solved the problem. It displays the Tropic of Cancer and Capricorn, the current subsolar point, and an interactive date slider to visualize how the Sun's position changes throughout the year. It also explains the underlying concepts, making it useful for anyone interested in the phenomenon.
You can try it here: tropics-map.netlify.app
Another example comes from my boss at QBurst, Shivkumar Subramaniam. He had accumulated decades of knowledge in a specialized domain (which I am not revealing here; surprise!) and had long wanted to build a tool around it. By giving Claude clear instructions, he was able to create exactly the tool he had envisioned for years. Claude even tested the tool by itself, giving him the confidence on what he has built.
To me, this is where AI is most transformative — it enables people to convert ideas into useful software tools without first becoming experts in programming, mathematics, or implementation details. Many projects that would have remained "someday" ideas can now become reality in a few hours or days.
I think we'll increasingly see people building their own small, specialized tools to solve problems that matter to them personally.
One final note: I wouldn't recommend relying solely on AI to build large-scale production systems. Large-scale software systems still need experienced engineers, architects, designers, testers, DevOps, security experts, and domain specialists working together to build systems that are scalable, reliable, secure, and maintainable.
You might want to explore my other tiny projects that I wanted to build for a long time, and finally built with the help of AI tools.