{
  "id": 17421920,
  "title": "I built a ghost that haunts my desktop until it can see my work",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/31/i-built-a-ghost-that-haunts-my-desktop-until-it-can-see-my-work",
  "topic": "tech",
  "section": "Tech",
  "published": "2026-10-31T15:27:55.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Dev.to",
    "slug": "dev-to",
    "url": "https://dev.to/newton_lebniz/i-built-a-ghost-that-haunts-my-desktop-until-it-can-see-my-work-39f4"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "A ghost named Haunt now haunts the user's desktop, appearing over their tasks and speaking unsettling lines until the work is completed. Created for the Hacktoberfest Open-Source AI Challenge, Haunt uses Gemma 3 4B, Ollama, and PySide6 to evaluate the user's work through screenshots. The ghost appears after a tap, asking if the work is done, and becomes increasingly agitated if ignored. If the screenshot does not show the completed task, Haunt provides evidence and asks the user to prove the work. The model checks the evidence, and if it is insufficient, the ghost remains and prompts the user to try again. Haunt only captures visual evidence if necessary, as it is more cost-effective than the model interpreting pixels. The ghost's buttons did not respond to clicks due to the Qt.Tool window flag, which was removed to fix the issue. The Ollama host was also misconfigured initially, causing connectivity problems. The ghost uses the Windows speech engine for its voice, running locally on the user's machine without accessing external servers or APIs.",
  "summary": "My submission for the Hacktoberfest Open-Source AI Challenge: Ghost in the Machine. Gemma 3 4B, Ollama and PySide6. Nothing leaves my laptop. A reminder asks one thing of you: a tap. Snooze, dismiss, \"done\". None of them checks anything and I am very good at tapping. So I built Haunt, a small ghost that appears over whatever I am doing, says something unsettling and does not leave until it can…",
  "key_points": [
    "Haunt ghost appears on desktop until work is completed",
    "Uses Gemma 3 4B, Ollama, PySide6 for work evaluation",
    "Checks visual evidence, prompts user to prove work"
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}