How I Built It
Christoffer Loderup, LCSW
Maybe you’re curious about how a therapist built an app. Or maybe you’re wanting to understand how AI helped me build this app. My purpose here is to be transparent about how I built the app, how AI helped, and where I stand on AI use. I’m not here to talk you out of any concerns you have about AI.
So first, let me explain how I built this app. Then I’ll explain my views on AI use.
What this means for you
AI helped write the code. It never sees your personal information.
About AI
- AI helped write the code, which is now a standard practice in software engineering
- If you use the app, AI will never see your private information (i.e., name, email, hours, certificates or billing information)
- The one exception is that AI does see words typed into the glitch report and idea submission forms.
About your data
- Encrypted and stored with Google Firebase
- Never sold
- Download or delete it anytime
About accuracy and safety
- Utah rules checked by me against DOPL’s documents
- I call DOPL as new questions come up
- Every update tested before it goes live
- No independent security review yet
Where it started
I originally built a CEU tracker spreadsheet for Utah LCSWs. After I got feedback from other therapists, I realized a spreadsheet wasn’t going to be as helpful as I was hoping.
So, at a friend’s suggestion, I tried working with AI coding tools and realized that building this app was something that could really happen. Much of the setup was done by me: setting up Google storage servers, linking the hosting, paying for online storage, setting up email logins, testing the app, and much more. I used AI tools to help me write the app’s code.
What "built with AI" means
When you hear "made with AI assistance," you might think of the too polished, too pretty pictures posted on social media. People simply give a prompt and all of a sudden they have a product. That isn’t how I built this app.
This app has undergone hundreds upon hundreds of revisions to get it where it is today. I’m proud of the app, and I look forward to making it more and more useful in the future.
The concerns I share
Despite using AI, I still have a lot of concerns with it. To list a few… AI’s use of water and electricity, and the fact that AI models were trained on the collective knowledge of humanity without compensation.
At the same time, I believe AI can do a lot of good. Because of this, I believe AI should be used and developed ethically. And once AI companies (like OpenAI and Anthropic) are profitable, coders, writers, musicians, and all who have contributed to society’s knowledge should be fairly compensated.
Where I’ve landed
For now, I hold both my concerns and gratitude at the same time. If you’d rather not use a tool built with AI help, I understand and respect that.
And if you do use it, I hope it makes your life a little less stressful so that you can spend your time and energy with the people and on the things that matter most to you.
Warmest regards,
Christoffer Loderup, LCSW