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Brittany Ellich

Brittany Ellich

@brittanyellich.com

Software engineer, newsletter writer, and podcast host writing about AI, accessibility, and building a sustainable engineering career without burning out.

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16d agoLast active

Working with clay

AI builds everything as this huge monster of too much, and now I feel like I’m iterating by trimming things back and perfecting it over time. It’s a bit like working from clay, and allowing the software underneath to expose itself in the form it’s meant to be in.

AI as a Tool for the Mental Load

108 PRs in eight days: Accidentally discovering loop engineering

Why I'm betting on ATProto (and why you should, too)

Social media was supposed to connect us, but most of it has turned into ads, division, and loneliness. I'm betting on ATProto as a way to fix that, and not just for developers. Whether you're a scientist, journalist, or just someone who wants the internet to feel human again, I think ATProto matters for you too.

Embrace the uncertainty

Start where you are: A practical guide to building with AI

Working Safely With AI Tools (A Non-Expert's Field Notes)

Living in the Inflection Point

I guess I'm AI-pilled now?

AI Has an Image Problem

I spent 2025 going from skeptical to genuinely excited about AI tools. My non-tech friends and family spent 2025 learning to hate them. The AI industry has fumbled this introduction so badly that we've turned a useful set of tools into a cultural flashpoint - but the damage isn't irreversible.

2025 was my year of doing ALL the things - speaking at 5+ conferences, starting a podcast, shipping side projects, and somehow not completely burning out. I learned that momentum creates more momentum, perfectionism is overrated, and seeing people in real life again after years of isolation is actually really, really good.

Representing groups in ATProto

I wanted to add book clubs to my GoodReads-like app (Collective), but ATProto doesn't have a standard way to handle shared group resources yet. So I'm building opensocial.community—a separate service that manages groups independently from any single app. This means the same book club could potentially work across multiple apps (imagine your book club having both a reading list in Collective AND a discussion forum in another app), and groups can migrate between providers if needed. It's probably over-engineered for my use case, but might help other ATProto developers building community features.