evan
@evanking.io
AI/ML researcher working with tiny audio, speech, and language models. occasionally exploring the intersection of code, ML, and design.
ece phd @ ut austin, 2024
cs bs @ unm, 2017
opinions are my own.
github.com/evmaki
ece phd @ ut austin, 2024
cs bs @ unm, 2017
opinions are my own.
github.com/evmaki
Put differently: knowing what problem to work on is more valuable than just working on problems. And this knowledge comes from living and being in the human world.
December 27, 2025 at 7:37 PM
Put differently: knowing what problem to work on is more valuable than just working on problems. And this knowledge comes from living and being in the human world.
Many AI boosters are forgetting that the most important part of work is the subjective, human aspect: empathizing with customer needs, communicating effectively, and understanding tastes and trends. A human can prompt an LLM into effectiveness in these areas, but it will rarely get there on its own.
December 27, 2025 at 6:18 PM
Many AI boosters are forgetting that the most important part of work is the subjective, human aspect: empathizing with customer needs, communicating effectively, and understanding tastes and trends. A human can prompt an LLM into effectiveness in these areas, but it will rarely get there on its own.
Feeling a sense of relief when the AI coding output is garbage; it’s a good heuristic for the novelty of the work. But using the AI to do today’s novel work will create training data for the next model iteration 🤔
December 4, 2025 at 7:43 PM
Feeling a sense of relief when the AI coding output is garbage; it’s a good heuristic for the novelty of the work. But using the AI to do today’s novel work will create training data for the next model iteration 🤔
Keyswitch and LED circuit coming together for a step sequencer. Using a dedicated PWM driver IC for controllable brightness gives much better results than my first attempt (bitbanging a constant current LED driver in software)
December 1, 2025 at 9:30 AM
Keyswitch and LED circuit coming together for a step sequencer. Using a dedicated PWM driver IC for controllable brightness gives much better results than my first attempt (bitbanging a constant current LED driver in software)
Realized something recently: MX-style keyboard switches are great general-purpose buttons. You can experiment with different 3d printed keycaps, and they're super tactile. I just wish they were a little easier to breadboard.
November 28, 2025 at 10:13 PM
Realized something recently: MX-style keyboard switches are great general-purpose buttons. You can experiment with different 3d printed keycaps, and they're super tactile. I just wish they were a little easier to breadboard.
It is important for people who make things – art, code, music, writing – to define that relationship for themselves. The big AI firms are facing immense pressure to be profitable; they are not focused on your agency or empowerment.
November 24, 2025 at 7:39 PM
It is important for people who make things – art, code, music, writing – to define that relationship for themselves. The big AI firms are facing immense pressure to be profitable; they are not focused on your agency or empowerment.
Still working out my relationship with coding agents. When you enjoy the process of creating, it's hard to see the value of the process diminished. You also become less capable if you offload the cognitive lifting. But they can help you overcome blockers, and learn things in your own way.
November 24, 2025 at 7:39 PM
Still working out my relationship with coding agents. When you enjoy the process of creating, it's hard to see the value of the process diminished. You also become less capable if you offload the cognitive lifting. But they can help you overcome blockers, and learn things in your own way.
Having fun building the UI for my generative sampler project. These tiny OLED displays are pretty expressive for their size
November 23, 2025 at 6:16 PM
Having fun building the UI for my generative sampler project. These tiny OLED displays are pretty expressive for their size
This workflow doesn't hold your hand - you find your own flights, find your own lodging, etc - but I'm not sure I want to hand over my credit card to an agentic system that might not have my best interests at heart
November 17, 2025 at 6:42 PM
This workflow doesn't hold your hand - you find your own flights, find your own lodging, etc - but I'm not sure I want to hand over my credit card to an agentic system that might not have my best interests at heart
I was daydreaming about a scuba trip to SE Asia recently and this workflow was useful:
1. Ask for a list of dive spots with descriptions
2. Reformat into .kml (importable in Google Earth)
3. Ask for another list of tourist destinations, also export as .kml
4. Self-plan itinerary by proximity
1. Ask for a list of dive spots with descriptions
2. Reformat into .kml (importable in Google Earth)
3. Ask for another list of tourist destinations, also export as .kml
4. Self-plan itinerary by proximity
Google’s AI Mode can now help you visualize your travel plans
Google’s AI Mode can now help you visualize your travel plans
An AI mode addition for next summer’s getaway.
buff.ly
November 17, 2025 at 6:42 PM
I was daydreaming about a scuba trip to SE Asia recently and this workflow was useful:
1. Ask for a list of dive spots with descriptions
2. Reformat into .kml (importable in Google Earth)
3. Ask for another list of tourist destinations, also export as .kml
4. Self-plan itinerary by proximity
1. Ask for a list of dive spots with descriptions
2. Reformat into .kml (importable in Google Earth)
3. Ask for another list of tourist destinations, also export as .kml
4. Self-plan itinerary by proximity
Trying to cram 9 buttons, 2 pots, 8 leds, 8 resistors, 2 ICs, and an OLED display on a Pi HAT proto board
November 16, 2025 at 10:34 PM
Trying to cram 9 buttons, 2 pots, 8 leds, 8 resistors, 2 ICs, and an OLED display on a Pi HAT proto board
Adolf Loos describing planned obsolescence in 1908 is a good reminder that there's nothing new under the sun.
November 16, 2025 at 5:50 PM
Adolf Loos describing planned obsolescence in 1908 is a good reminder that there's nothing new under the sun.
If a tool increases productivity, people will adopt it organically and get a performance advantage. It’ll be so useful you can’t NOT use it. Forcing it from the top down seems to run the risk of actually reducing productivity if your assumptions about how useful it is are wrong.
November 15, 2025 at 11:43 PM
If a tool increases productivity, people will adopt it organically and get a performance advantage. It’ll be so useful you can’t NOT use it. Forcing it from the top down seems to run the risk of actually reducing productivity if your assumptions about how useful it is are wrong.
AI begets a 21st century Dadaism; it shows you the form of familiar things, but they flow into one another in a situationless manner, devoid of context.
AI researchers would call this a "world model". Right now AI can approximate the distribution of the form, but has no model of the function.
AI researchers would call this a "world model". Right now AI can approximate the distribution of the form, but has no model of the function.
Oh my god some fucking tech dingdong posted this on Twitter with the caption "AI games are going to be amazing" totally seriously, you have to watch it. You have to. In full screen.
October 24, 2025 at 5:45 PM
AI begets a 21st century Dadaism; it shows you the form of familiar things, but they flow into one another in a situationless manner, devoid of context.
AI researchers would call this a "world model". Right now AI can approximate the distribution of the form, but has no model of the function.
AI researchers would call this a "world model". Right now AI can approximate the distribution of the form, but has no model of the function.
One of those rare things that tempts you to dust off the VR headset
This is rather cool, it's an endless procedurally generated museum based on Wikipedia. Nice to wander round, particularly in VR. Spent a good while in the surprisingly vast hall of soup earlier.
https://mayeclair.itch.io/museum-of-all-things
https://mayeclair.itch.io/museum-of-all-things
Museum of All Things by Maya Claire
An infinite virtual museum generated from wikipedia
mayeclair.itch.io
June 24, 2025 at 2:01 AM
One of those rare things that tempts you to dust off the VR headset
i'm assuming it's using some cloud-based model (LLM?) to do the filtering, which might raise privacy concerns. would be great to provide this locally, on-device.
May 22, 2025 at 11:28 PM
i'm assuming it's using some cloud-based model (LLM?) to do the filtering, which might raise privacy concerns. would be great to provide this locally, on-device.
cool project: www.flowstate.cc lets you filter your feeds based on the types of content you do/don't want to see. e.g., no public freakouts, no rage bait. tools like this could help people regain agency over their digital experiences
Flowstate
Building web experiences to reverse mindless scrolling /
www.flowstate.cc
May 22, 2025 at 11:28 PM
cool project: www.flowstate.cc lets you filter your feeds based on the types of content you do/don't want to see. e.g., no public freakouts, no rage bait. tools like this could help people regain agency over their digital experiences
students using AI on assignments; teachers using AI to grade them. sending emails written by AI, so recipients can respond with AI. building an app with AI; deploying it to be used by AI agents. the implication is that we have no interest in doing anything. what are we freeing our time up for?
May 21, 2025 at 9:27 PM
students using AI on assignments; teachers using AI to grade them. sending emails written by AI, so recipients can respond with AI. building an app with AI; deploying it to be used by AI agents. the implication is that we have no interest in doing anything. what are we freeing our time up for?
this george grosz painting hasn't left my mind since I saw it at the hirshhorn museum a few months ago
May 17, 2025 at 4:49 PM
this george grosz painting hasn't left my mind since I saw it at the hirshhorn museum a few months ago
opening up the computer in the morning, seeing all my tabs and windows and Documents from the day prior—it’s like coming home to a happy family. Each file is like an old friend. And nothing beats hanging out with your friends 😃
October 13, 2023 at 2:55 PM
opening up the computer in the morning, seeing all my tabs and windows and Documents from the day prior—it’s like coming home to a happy family. Each file is like an old friend. And nothing beats hanging out with your friends 😃
beginning to realize i enjoy cable management more than using the things the cables are connected to
September 21, 2023 at 4:17 PM
beginning to realize i enjoy cable management more than using the things the cables are connected to
attaching a 12x scope to my iphone and targeting a food truck QR code from 300 yards away
September 13, 2023 at 2:27 PM
attaching a 12x scope to my iphone and targeting a food truck QR code from 300 yards away
i’m going to have to go with the classic “Truck”. it’s simply goated in my opinion.
September 11, 2023 at 2:00 AM
i’m going to have to go with the classic “Truck”. it’s simply goated in my opinion.
including the middle name when he could have secured the OG firstnamelastname before i did…. Big time L from our friend ETK
September 8, 2023 at 3:50 AM
including the middle name when he could have secured the OG firstnamelastname before i did…. Big time L from our friend ETK