I have been a hobbyist web developer since the 1990's (I did it professionally then), and I regularly build websites to fill gaps in existing services. Most are just for my personal use, but occasionally I launch them publicly for others to benefit as well. For example, I launched MagicForward to solve an email forwarding problem I had encountered at work. However, I think the most recent one is also the most interesting:

Gradebird - AI grading for handwritten exams

In early 2026 something amazing happened with the flagship large language models: they suddenly became really good at deciphering handwritten work, including diagrams, jumbles of text, and really strange handwriting. This was always one of my biggest pain points with grading student work. These are stressed-out students doing their very best in a timed-exam situation, so I always tried my very hardest to read their writing and give them the benefit of the doubt. But it was hard work, and I was never very good at it. So, with the newest AI models apparently more than capable of handling the handwriting (and the physics), I gave it a try. And it worked astoundingly well. It was faster and more accurate than human grading (at least with this human in charge!), and it was a better experience for the students, too, since they all got detailed feedback.

As word spread around the university and more faculty wanted to use the tool, I decided to bring it to the world. After signing a licensing deal with the tech launch arm of the university, Gradebird is now available for qualified academics to use in their courses. If you want to try it, head to gradebird.ai and sign up with your institutional email. Please do let me know what you think!