The Column

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Your AI subscriptions cost $340 a month. A box on your shelf can replace most of them.

The honest 2026 math on killing your subscription stack with local hardware

Jun 2026 · 9 min read
Your Most Valuable AI Use Case Is the One You’re Not Allowed to Try

The most valuable AI use case for professionals is the one they hesitate to try: pointing AI at real client work without breaking the trust around it.

Jun 2026 · 3 min read
The Most Interesting Thing About Claude Opus 4.8 Isn’t the Benchmarks

Opus 4.8 is faster and cheaper - but the real story is that it's four times more likely to flag flaws in its own code.

May 2026 · 3 min read
Why AI Made Me 19% Slower (And Why That's Actually Fine)

A rigorous study found experienced developers were 19% slower with AI assistance - while believing they were 20% faster. Here's what that means for your workflow.

Apr 2026 · 7 min read
AI Won’t Take Your Job. Fear Will.

Two skills AI can't replace - pure creativity and genuine empathy - and why the fear narrative is more dangerous than the technology.

Mar 2026 · 2 min read
The Five Agentic Flows: A Framework for Building AI That Actually Works

Observe, Detect, Suggest, Fix, Learn - a mental model for where AI agents actually create value and where they fall apart.

Feb 2026 · 3 min read
What I Learned Building Something Every Day

How curiosity, crazy ideas, and a 4-hour time box turned me into an expert AI builder

Dec 2025 · 2 min read
The Missteps That Pointed Me Forward

I’ve been thinking about how quickly we call things “wasted.”

Dec 2025 · 4 min read
The Research Framework I Use Before Every Project

I built this prompt after watching myself (and others) ignore obvious signals that a product wasn’t going to work.

Dec 2025 · 3 min read
© 2026 Scott Shapiro