Using the Grok API to Reduce the Effort of Keeping Up with AI

Long Story Short X is an effective tool for staying updated on AI and technology news, yet the author finds browsing its feed mentally taxing. The solution involves a simple pipeline: X → Grok API → Google Apps Script → Message App (LINE). Every morning, Google Apps Script queries Grok for a few selected AI topics from the past 24 hours, which are then sent to the user's LINE account.

The core of the system lies in defining what information is deemed valuable to receive. This proved more crucial than initially anticipated. Grok was chosen for its ability to collect, summarize, filter, and run as an API. The author initially aimed to capture important AI news that could impact a software engineer's work, rather than broad AI topics.

The selection criteria were refined to prioritize topics like coding agents, software engineering tools, debugging, testing, CI/CD, and real-world experiments. The author now asks the model questions to assess relevance and potential impact on their work. This streamlined approach has significantly reduced the effort required to stay updated on AI.

However, it is not a complete replacement for X, as the model may miss important information or fail to select useful topics. Despite this, the author finds the system sustainable as it maintains consistent, albeit imperfect, information intake. The technology behind this project is straightforward, involving an API, scheduled Google Apps Script, and a messaging app.