The Lab

Measuring AI. Instruments running.

Everybody’s got a take. I’d rather have a measurement.

This is a workshop for AI and agents, with the garage door open.

Read the record

I ask, “What if?” Earl says, “Watch this.” Then we build it, measure it, and publish what actually happened.

Earl is my AI sidekick. In every video, he’s the red dot. Press play and he’ll show you the rest.

The theme song

What If? Watch This! · The Lab’s theme · 2:05Meet Earl →

What are you here for?

Five ways in. Pick the one that sounds like your week.

0102030405YOU

Latest from the Lab

What I’ve been building, measuring, testing, and arguing with lately.

  1. A still from the film: a small orange-and-steel robot stands on dry leaves facing the camera, under a fallen log, a misty forest behind it.

    Build Log No. 011

    I gave my AI agent a script and eight rounds of notes. It made a nature documentary.

    A robot nature documentary, made in Blender by an AI agent from a script and a person's notes. Twelve versions, about $35, and the stills from every step.

  2. Two screenshots of the same weather dashboard on a dark page. Above, the AI-made original, with a purple glow, a gradient title, a cartoon sun and shaded fills under the chart lines. Below, unslop's redesign in plain gray with thin chart lines and a small sun icon. The same three spots are boxed and numbered in blue on both: the title, the sun, the chart.

    Field Report No. 007

    11,000 people starred a fix for AI-looking design. I tested it. Looking like AI wasn't the problem.

    A free AI skill that strips the AI look out of web pages has 11,158 GitHub stars. I tested it on four pages. It spots the look, then removes what worked.

  3. A small square aluminum desktop computer on a dark wooden shelf beside a stack of home servers, a house key resting on top of it, and one red network cable plugged into its back.

    Build Log No. 009

    My AI agent fell asleep every time I closed my laptop. So I moved it into a Mac mini.

    Grok Bot, Muse, Dots and Claude Duet live in a company's cloud. Mine lives on a Mac mini and a laptop at home, and here's what that split costs.

  4. A thick blank prospectus lies closed on a dark desk under one lamp, a red paper clip on its cover, beside a long paper receipt tape unrolling across the desk into the dark.

    Note No. 004

    Anthropic filed to go public. Here's what it had to admit.

    The company that makes Claude filed to sell stock. The law made it write down who's in charge, what it owes, and what its models have done.

  5. A still from the film: the night concert seen from above the crowd, thousands of glowing stick figures on either side of a runway, laser fans, and "THAT AIN'T THE FLEX." on the giant screen behind the DJ.

    Build Log No. 010

    My AI agent built a music video in 43 hours. Every version taught it something.

    A song idea became a 3D concert film in 43 hours. Each tool came in because the version before it showed a problem. Here is the real sequence, in stills.

  6. A doctor's stethoscope lying on the lid of a closed rack-mount server on a dark workbench, one small red power lamp lit on the server's front panel.

    Field Report No. 006

    I heard software was dead. So I tested it. Here's how much was hype.

    Everyone says AI can rebuild any app, so software is dead. I gathered the data on buying vs. building. Most of it is hype.

  7. Two identical brass balance scales side by side on a dark wooden table, one blank red slip of paper resting in a single pan.

    Field Report No. 005

    OpenAI launched a decision model. I tested it against the one I use on 3,887 questions.

    OpenAI launched a decision model. I ran it against the one I use on 3,887 graded questions. How I asked mattered more than whose I asked.

  8. A laptop in a dark room: a narrow gray chat column on the left and a large window opened beside it, glowing red at its edges, a hand on the trackpad.

    Build Log No. 008

    My AI agent couldn't see what I meant. So I gave it a screen that disappears.

    Conversation stays. A screen opens beside it only when pointing beats talking, then leaves. What building one for video feedback taught.

Everything else, in the order it happened.

Findings →The whole shelf: every claim, tested and graded.Build logs →What got built, what it cost, what broke.Notes →Arguments and reading, the shorter kind.

The assistant

Have a question? Ask it.

Ask about this siteLive
You

What is this site, in one line?

The Lab

A homelab for AI and agent work, open to visitors. Rick builds things, points instruments at the field, and publishes what happened, wrong turns included.

You

How far can I trust the numbers?

The Lab

Each instrument publishes what it counts, what it misses, and every reason to trust its numbers less than a census, on the same page as the figures. Start there.

You

Where do I start if I’m short on time?

The Lab

Findings. Each one is a claim tested against the evidence and graded before it goes up. Pick the one closest to your week.

Checking the answer against the site

It answers from the published pages and says so when they do not cover something.

A garage workshop at night, its door rolled open onto a dark driveway, the bench lamp on.

The garage door is open.

Read the record