The Uncanny Valley
The Uncanny Valley was born from a fascination with the potential of AI and a desire to use the OpenAI API, tackling the fascinating question, “What happens when AI delivers the news?”.
Full Stack Application
This project showcases a full-stack implementation, integrating API routes for backend logic, cron jobs for scheduled tasks, Lambda functions for serverless computing, and React for both server and client components. Robust authentication mechanisms also ensure secure access.
Technical highlights
- AI Integration: Combining the Guardian and OpenAI APIs made it possible to automatically create unique images and stories from the latest news headlines.
- Social Media Automation: By leveraging Next.js's beta feature for cron jobs alongside Lambda functions, I automated Twitter postings, ensuring a steady stream of content.
- Admin Dashboard: I developed an admin dashboard, which allowed articles to be approved by myself and co-creator, supported by Supabase auth for secure Google logins.
Admin dashboard - Dynamic Metadata: I used Next.js to dynamically generate Open Graph images for articles, ensuring they display correctly on social media and improve engagement.
Example of a dynamic open graph image
Firebase 👉 Supabase
Due to Firebase's limitations on spend capping, I migrated to Supabase, which also presented an opportunity to dive into SQL databases—a technology I hadn't used before. Supabase's PostgreSQL offering was an ideal introduction, combining cost control with the chance to expand my tech skill set. Supabase is now my preferred choice for backend solutions.
Netlify 👉 Vercel
During development, I encountered issues with Next.js on Netlify, which led me to switch to Vercel due to its strong support for Next.js. This change immediately fixed my problems, prompting me to transfer other sites to Vercel too. Vercel is now my preferred hosting platform.
