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Personal Projects
Booster (Kids AI)
Personal Project
An LLM designed specifically for children. Friendly characters, age-appropriate guardrails, full parental controls. I designed it properly — character-based chat interface, multiple AI personalities to interact with. Then simplified it for real testing. Built a working version with push-to-talk and text input. Then I tested it with my own kids.
Role
Designer & Builder
Year
2024
Status
Prototype tested
How It Works
Child experience:
- Full internet access with content guardrails
- Information filtered based on age (3 brackets from 5-15 years)
- Interface adapts — younger kids get voice-driven, older kids get text
- Restrictions loosen as they age up
Parent controls:
- Manage children's accounts
- View chat logs
- Create custom AI instructions
- Define banned topics
- Full visibility into what they're asking
Design 1
What I Actually Built
Lost the developer halfway through. Rather than abandon it, I decided to vibe code it myself. Stripped everything back to basics. No character system. No fancy animations. Just a text box, a microphone button, and an AI that wouldn't say anything inappropriate to an 8-year-old. Two months of evenings and weekends. Mostly worked.
What I Learned
Tested it with my own kids. They were excited about the idea — for about five minutes. Turns out a web-based interface was never going to work. They live on iPads, not browsers. But even if I'd built a native app, I don't think they'd use it much. They've got YouTube, games, each other. An AI that answers questions just isn't that compelling when you're 8. Good concept. Wrong audience. Still learned a lot building it.