Gemma Croad
@gemmacroad.bsky.social
57 followers 190 following 21 posts
Lead Engineer, front-end specialist, a11y and user advocate, creative coder
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gemmacroad.bsky.social
AI uses more confident language when it's making things up than when it's actually right.

We're dealing with pattern-matching systems that don't know when they don't know something.

medium.com/@gemma.croad...
Are we too quick to trust the output of AI?
Why the most convincing AI outputs might be the most dangerous
medium.com
Reposted by Gemma Croad
sarahedo.bsky.social
💥 did a small drawing explaining the JS execution model including the event loop. I hope it’s helpful to folks. Debugging is always easier when the underlying implementations are understood.
Drawing explaining the JS execution model and event loop
gemmacroad.bsky.social
I created this vintage colour theory poster for this weeks @codepen.io challenge! It's a loving tribute to those beautiful scientific colour wheel prints I was obsessed with as a child (and honestly still am)... 🥰 🌈

codepen.io/GemmaCroad/p...
CodePen Challenge: Color Wheel
A bit of a nod to the vintage style colour wheels I used to love as a child, and still do....
codepen.io
gemmacroad.bsky.social
"Culture fit" in tech hiring often means "doesn't make us uncomfortable by questioning how we do things."

But what if the person who doesn't quite fit is exactly what your team needs?

medium.com/@gemma.croad...
The culture fit problem in engineering
Why the person who doesn’t quite fit is exactly what your team needs
medium.com
gemmacroad.bsky.social
Searched for banana bread recipes lately?

You'll find "The Ultimate Guide to Perfect Banana Bread: 15 Amazing Variations" written by a system that can't actually taste, touch, or try anything.

This is AI slop. And it's breaking how we learn from each other.

medium.com/@gemma.croad...
Why AI slop matters more than you think
How generated content is drowning out human voices online
medium.com
gemmacroad.bsky.social
“Why do we need all these engineers when AI can just… write the code for us?”

Because engineering is mostly not coding. It's figuring out what you're actually trying to build and why.

medium.com/@gemma.croad...
Why engineering isn’t just coding (and AI won’t change that)
Why business leaders misunderstand what engineers actually do, and how that impacts AI adoption
medium.com
gemmacroad.bsky.social
The tech industry promises AI will free us up for more creative work. But what happens when we outsource creativity itself? I’m curious to hear your thoughts, especially if you work in a creative field. How are you thinking about this balance? medium.com/@gemma.croad...
The human spark and why we shouldn’t outsource our creativity
Creativity is at the heart of what it means to be human, yet many in the tech industry are trying to convince us to outsource that spark to…
medium.com
gemmacroad.bsky.social
How is your organisation thinking about the intersection of design systems and AI? I've been thinking about this a lot recently, and I'd love to chat if this is the space you're working in 🙂 medium.com/@gemma.croad...
The Future of Design Systems: Shipping Intelligence Rather Than Code
Are traditional design systems becoming AI constraint systems? Maybe the real value isn’t in pre-built components anymore, maybe it’s in…
medium.com
gemmacroad.bsky.social
Thought for the afternoon: Are traditional design systems becoming AI constraint systems? Potentially the real value isn't in pre-built components anymore, maybe it's in the systematic knowledge about how things should work together? 🤔
gemmacroad.bsky.social
I just read “In Praise of Normal Engineers” by Charity Majors' and it’s a refreshing take on the “10x engineer” myth. TL;DR: It’s not about unicorn individuals, it’s about building 10x teams where normal, everyday engineers can thrive, ship, and make real impact... 🙌 charity.wtf/2025/06/19/i...
In Praise of “Normal” Engineers
This article was originally commissioned by Luca Rossi (paywalled) for refactoring.fm, on February 11th, 2025. Luca edited a version of it that emphasized the importance of building “10x engi…
charity.wtf
gemmacroad.bsky.social
JavaScript turns 30 this year! It's gone from a tiny, quirky scripting language made in 10 days to the hottest programming language out there. Here are some big moments in its history that show how JavaScript has grown and where it's going next... 🎂 deno.com/blog/history...
A brief history of JavaScript | Deno
In 30 years, JavaScript went from being a little scripting language to one of the world's most popular. Here are key moments to show how it has evolved and where it is headed.
deno.com
gemmacroad.bsky.social
It really does, doesn't it 😅
gemmacroad.bsky.social
The People’s Graphic Design Archive is a truly special project. Its aim is to create a virtual, crowdsourced archive that helps preserve the history of graphic design. You can explore it by collection or topic, or simply scroll through the homepage to discover some gold... 🫶 peoplesgdarchive.org
gemmacroad.bsky.social
I think what makes me nervous is the scale at which AI code generation operates means that accessibility flaws get reproduced at a magnitude we've never seen before in web dev. A single accessibility oversight in an AI's generation pattern could be multiplied across countless digital experiences.
gemmacroad.bsky.social
A big question for our industry: If we increasingly rely on AI to generate frontend code, and that code tends to underperform on accessibility, are we at risk of creating a more inaccessible web?
gemmacroad.bsky.social
Taking a long social media break was exactly what I needed, but I've missed connecting with everyone. I'm really looking forward to jumping back into conversations and catching up on what I've missed 🙂