Browser-based AI Summarization

Information overload is real. Too many tweets, endless newsletters, and reading lists that never seem to get shorter. People write pages to say what could be said in paragraphs… paragraphs to say what could be said in sentences.

That’s exactly why I built The Gist of It - a Chrome extension that brings AI-powered summarization right into your browser workflow.

Why Not Just Use ChatGPT

Look, I love that we have tools like ChatGPT. But copying and pasting text back and forth just to figure out if something is worth reading? That’s exactly the kind of friction we don’t need in 2024.

Sure, The Gist of It is “just a wrapper” around ChatGPT. But it’s the kind of micro-optimization that makes a real difference in how we process information daily. These small improvements in UI/UX, when integrated into our existing workflows, can unlock tremendous value.

Just imagine saving a few minutes a day and add that up over a year.

The best part? I built this in a day. Not just because it’s trivial, but because I focused on solving one specific problem really well: helping you quickly understand if content deserves your full attention.

It helps to define a clearly scoped product which I happen to be pretty good at.

What It Does

It’s beautifully simple - right-click on any text and get an AI-generated summary in seconds. No context switching, no copy-pasting, no friction. Whether you’re scanning through emails, research papers, or that endless Twitter thread, you get the gist of it instantly.

Under the Hood

I built this using Plasmo, which is this awesome framework for building modern browser extensions. The tech stack is intentionally straightforward - JavaScript for the frontend, Chrome Extensions API for browser integration, and OpenAI’s GPT for the AI magic. I focused heavily on making the interface snappy because nobody likes waiting for their summaries.

Impact & What’s Next

While it’s a simple tool, it’s part of something bigger. Imagine a world where every micro-interaction with technology is optimized by AI - not in a flashy, revolutionary way, but in these small, meaningful improvements to how we do things.

The entire project is open-source and available on GitHub. You can grab it from the Chrome Web Store if you want to try it out. I’m always open to feedback and ideas for new features!

Tech Stack

• Frontend: JavaScript, Chrome Extensions API, Plasmo Framework
• AI Integration: GPT-4, OpenAI API, Prompt Engineering