Developer posts Koi.rest, an AI-built virtual koi pond, to Hacker News

In the post, Paul described himself as a developer and an explorer who has ADHD, and said that being unemployed since the beginning of August, together with "everything else this past year," had caused him a great deal of stress. He wrote that a balcony zen garden project of his was not yet finished, and that the unfinished project gave him the idea to create a virtual version that anyone could use.

He said he had been postponing that idea for a while, mostly because he had no clear idea how to build it. He wrote that he let perfect be the enemy of good and kept the idea to himself, then decided to go ahead and use AI to make the thing he wanted to make.

Paul described his own contribution as tweaking, adding, removing, drawing, researching, questioning and testing, and wrote plainly that he was not the one coding it. He said he came to realize he did not want "perfect," he wanted "good enough."

Rather than occupying his thoughts, he wrote, the project now lives on the internet for others to enjoy. He added that there is something noble about making something entirely on one's own, but asked what good an idea is if it only sits in someone's head.

He called the result "the weird, little, quiet koi pond," a silly project of passion, and "the little corner of the internet to let strangers watch fish quietly, together." He wrote that he hopes the pond helps others as much as it helped him.

The Hacker News submission carried 5 points and no comments at the time the post was recorded. The post itself includes a link to the discussion thread and to the site.