# Tuyiiye AI

> Slow internet, thin budgets and shaky power might push us towards offline, cheaper AI.

Source: https://simplelittleworks.com/blog/tuyiiye-ai/  
Section: Blog  
Updated: 2026-10-01

As I write this, we have no internet. Our "fibre" connection has a fault and has been down for 2 days. Additionally, the 4G LTE use-it-anywhere mifi that we got from a different provider as a backup (in case our main fibre connection ever had a fault and went down for 2 days) is also down. Frustration abounds. 

To be fair to My Dear ISP, this kind of extended blackout isn't an everyday thing. But it is regular enough for me to have now memorised the options I need to press on My Dear ISP's customer service phone menu. Eventually,[^1] someone somewhere will fix something somewhere, and I will get back online. Back to my mostly reliable, low-to-medium-speed, medium-to-high-priced internet. (How I miss it so.)

But for now there is nothing to do but wait, and that's particularly frustrating today, because after months of fiddling and diddling and watching from the sidelines, I have finally made the leap and dived into the wonderful world of AI development. 

![](/media/gemini-generated-image-o8544o8544o8544o.jpg)
*Image: generated with Gemini / No. of prompts: 3*

And for my first real-life AI-assisted project, I went for the low-hanging fruit: building and deploying this very site. 

It's a simple enough project - technical without being too challenging - so the current generation of large language models should, by all accounts, complete it with ease. In fact, if I can keep things simple, I shouldn't need any additional credits beyond what I get with a basic subscription from one of the Frontier Labs. I believe today's AI still needs some level of technical knowledge to use it fully, and I have just enough to make me think I know what I'm doing.

I am eager to start. I want to create my own apps and to build a *truly* personal assistant. I want to create my own working routines and stop copying and pasting other people's ideas. But for now, none of that is possible. 

![](/media/screenshot-2026-09-30-at-14-57-44.png)
*Screenshot: SGNUG*

Work has stalled because internet. Such is the reality of life when you live far from the frontier. 
# So what do we do?

The fact that you are reading this here means that at some point the internet came back and I actually built something. Or rather, AI helped me build something. Or more accurately, AI built something and I watched and pressed enter when it told me to. 

In any case, the thing was built, and *that's* the important part. 

Being in the Global South can feel physically and technologically far from the AI frontier, but that doesn't have to be a bad thing. Yes, we have slow and unpredictable internet, but perhaps that will drive us to build offline-capable AI systems. Yes, we have no money, but perhaps that will help us seek alternatives to the type of AI that requires deep pockets. Yes, we have to deal with unreliable electricity, but perhaps that will push us towards AI that doesn't need huge amounts of power or advanced hardware to run. (AI on your phone, anyone?)

If we can learn to tap into our inner Stoic and accept the situation as it is, there are opportunities galore. We just have to think a bit creatively about our use of AI. Or as we'd say in this part of Uganda, *tuyiiye AI*.

[^1]: It took 5 days to restore our connection in the end. 5 days of no internet. I survived, but only just.