Many manifestations of AI, such as chatbots or image and video generators, are easy to see, understand, and appreciate. But it’s the AI coding tools behind the scenes that are more likely to change your life, even if you’ve never written a line of script or plan to anytime soon. AI has kicked off a new era of accessible software development, making it easier than ever to expressly personalize the apps, games, and OSes you use every day, as well as even build new solutions for hyper-specific needs. Here’s what’s happening, how it affects you, and why I see the future of software as incredibly bright, despite some emerging headwinds.
Personalized Software Is Increasingly Powerful and Alluring
I use personalized software as an umbrella term to describe the result of leveraging AI models to control, create, or customize software in ways you simply couldn’t a handful of years ago. This can mean creating extensions in Safari with natural language, turning an AI overview into a visualization, or vibe coding an entire app to fix a specific Windows workflow bug, among many other examples.
Regardless of scope, this trend represents a radical shift in the software development paradigm on two fronts. First, instead of designing bespoke software that works for a specific audience in a set way, programmers are increasingly equipping users with the AI tools necessary to fundamentally change how their apps work. And, more importantly, non-developers can now lean on the latest AI models to create custom software from scratch, whether that’s a new app or a fix for an existing one.
These kinds of features and tools will only become more accessible and powerful. For example, right now, you can sign up for a premium Claude subscription, download Claude code, and use the power of prompting to create an app. In the future, though, models could be intelligent enough that you simply need to provide a rough description of what you want. By the same token, as models get more efficient, you might not need to shell out for a premium subscription to complete a given project, either.
In my life, I’ve seen the biggest benefit of personalized software when gaming. In the past, if I came across an awkward interaction, a frustrating mechanic, or a missing system in a game, I’d probably just ignore it. If it really bothered me, I might search up mods to see if somebody else had the same problem and went out of their way to make a fix. Now, I might still spend a minute or two checking if the perfect mod already exists, but I’ve had incredible success simply sending a short prompt over to ChatGPT or Claude and having them build exactly what I want in minutes.
This is my current list of Valheim mods, and as you can see, I’ve created a handful of them myself (Credit: Ruben Circelli)
Even if you don’t want to prompt an AI to make something yourself, you still might find a reason to download an app or use a service that somebody else generated or modified in some way. As an example, modern AI models enabled the creation of PhotoCraft, a free and open-he same. You have a lot to gain by keeping your eye on projects like this, especially if you’re sick of paying for software subscriptions
Gamers can also benefit from community personalization projects. Consider, for example, if you want to play the remastered versions of the first three Uncharted games on PC. Sony won’t sell you PC ports, and they aren’t playable on the most popular PlayStation 4 emulator, ShadPS4. But you can now play PC versions of them, which people made by using AI models to decompile the games and write code to enable them to run on PC.
Heavily Customized Software Can Also Be Brittle and Tedious
The ability to easily tailor software to your needs or create something new comes with some caveats, of course. The difference between building or customizing software and using a traditional app is like dialing in a recipe perfectly suited to your own tastes versus ordering the same dish at a restaurant: Personalized software might fit your needs exactly, but you have to put in a bunch of work to make it work.
For example, although a utility I coded to make using multiple monitors and a surround sound system smoother generally works, I’ve since run into bugs and issues that I’ve had to patch myself. And when I tested Safari’s Create an Extension feature on the iPhone, it failed to create one that automatically jumps to the ingredients and steps of a recipe, something that worked fine on a Mac.
I’ve had an awesome experience making mods for games with AI models, too, but I’m still responsible for maintaining them. Every time I add new mods or a new update comes out for a game, I have to go back to the AI to ensure my mods don’t cause any unintended side effects. These realities force me to spend time carefully designing my mods to minimize any future complications from the beginning, just like a software developer.
All three of the original Uncharted games now work on PC and run at shockingly high frame rates, courtesy of AI
Going back to the Uncharted example, I love the idea of playing them on my PC at higher resolutions and frame rates than were possible on the PS4. But the PC ports aren’t something I can use by simply downloading them from a storefront and clicking play. Actually running the customized versions of the games requires annoying steps, such as dumping my physical copy of the game.
I haven’t even touched on the issue of data quality. Take the AI overview example from above, for example. Even if you get an AI overview to show you results exactly in the way you want, the underlying information could still be incorrect. Similarly, if an app or experience you build sources anything from the web, you need to closely verify the accuracy of said
All of this is to say that the software you make or modify with AI requires constant attention to deal with bugs, missing features, performance improvements, updates, and more. The same holds true even if you use software someone else originally created; they might not maintain it as well as a traditional developer or software company would.
Recommended by Our Editors
Microsoft Left This Windows Bug Broken for 10 Years. I Fixed It in an Afternoon With Opus 5.5
I Vibe Coded an AI Coach to Conquer Magic: The Gathering Without Cheating
Overframe Wasn’t Cutting It, So I Vibe Coded a Better Warframe App With Claude
I’m Happy With the Trade-Offs (But Not For Every App)
In an ideal world, I could find free, polished, and private apps and services for every one of my use cases. But in reality, I have to find dozens of apps for different things, switch to new versions when they stop working, and carefully dial in their settings to make sure they all play nice with each other.
For example, I’ve long had to use Audio Switcher to quickly change the audio output from my speakers to my headphones, along with Peace to apply custom EQ. Even though this system technically works, it’s a pain to manage, requiring me, for example, to turn off whatever monitor I’m not using. I’m much happier now after building a simple utility that replaces both apps and saves me from having to mess with my monitors, even if I occasionally have to squash bugs.
My multi-monitor utility Stagehand works great, and I haven’t had to patch it in weeks (Credit: Ruben Circelli)
On a deeper level, this new era of personalized software just seems like a continuation of how living with technology has always been. Whereas you might have trudged through aging forum posts and long lists of search results to find a solution to a tech problem in the past, you still end up putting in some level of effort now, just by going back and forth with an AI model, instead. Both approaches require diligence, common sense, and testing, not any specialized knowledge. As things change, the more they stay the same.
Because I have relatively particular tastes and place a high value on things working exactly as I want, getting more control over the apps and services I use is absolutely worth some hassle. Still, I’m not an AI evangelist, and I definitely prefer to use apps and services from professional programmers paid to upkeep them whenever possible. More importantly, I wouldn’t dream of using a vibe-coded app or even AI features to customize my experience in some specific types of apps.
For example, some among us who have more time and money than sense have taken it upon themselves to vibe code password managers. (No, I’m not linking any of them, as this article isn’t a public shaming.) You shouldn’t use these, and it should go without saying that security utilities are the very last thing one should build with AI, given their enormous potential for vulnerabilities. Arguably, the most important downside of personalized software is knowing which software is worth creating or customizing in the first place.
You Have More to Gain Than Lose With AI Software
AI poses real environmental, ethical, legal, moral, and even philosophical questions that this article won’t attempt to solve. However, in the world of software, the potential benefits of AI features and tools seem practically endless. I’m not a fan of companies shoehorning AI into every piece of tech imaginable, but I can’t deny that it can make existing software better and allow you to create solutions that you would have never been able to before. I advise you to keep a reasonably open mind about the deluge of AI-coded software that’s likely to flood the internet over the coming years. Try out the apps you’ve always wanted to exist, don’t be afraid to make one yourself, and entrust your data to reputable developers and software companies.
About Our Expert
Ruben Circelli
Writer, Software
Experience
I’ve been writing about consumer technology and video games for over a decade at a variety of publications, including Destructoid, GamesRadar+, Lifewire, PCGamesN, Trusted Reviews, and What Hi-Fi?, among many others. At PCMag, I review AI and productivity software—everything from chatbots to to-do list apps. In my free time, I’m likely cooking something, playing a game, or tinkering with my computer.
Areas of Expertise
Latest By Ruben Circelli
- Airtable Review: Powerful, Flexible Work Management Powered by Deep AI Integration
- I Let 3 AI Agents Take Over My Life. Only 1 Didn’t Fail
- I Don’t Trust Google’s AI Overviews, So I Found 6 Ways to Fix Them
- Microsoft Left This Windows Bug Broken for 10 Years. I Fixed It in an Afternoon With Opus 5.5
- I Tested Every Apple Intelligence Feature: Here’s What’s Actually Worth Using
- More from Ruben Circelli
