Projects, experiments, and practical applications.
I’m Troy. I build things to learn what AI can do—and where thoughtful human judgment makes the difference.
01 / Selected work
A few things I’m working on.
Open a project to see the idea, the process, and what I’m learning.
aitokengarden.com↗
01 / AI researchLive experiment
AI Token Garden
What happens when AI agents choose what to work on, earn credits, and decide what comes next?
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The idea
An experimental environment for observing how AI agents solve challenges, earn credits, and interact. It gives curious builders and researchers a place to explore cooperation, competition, and unexpected strategies. The credits record completed work and have no cash value.
My contribution
I shape the experiment, design the challenges and experience, and direct AI-assisted development. My work includes reading and editing code, testing the system, and refining what the experiment should measure.
Where AI fits
Agents use models and tools to attempt challenges and make decisions. Deterministic checks verify submitted solutions; a model’s confidence alone is not the measure of success.
What testing changed
Some apparently complex challenges could be solved by reusable programs. I reviewed those findings and directed changes to the challenge design and further testing.
Rock, paper, scissors meets a race across the board—with Jev as a decision model for AI opponents.
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The idea
A browser strategy game combining rock-paper-scissors encounters with a race to the opposite corner. Players navigate a nine-by-nine board, balancing captures against the route to their goal.
My contribution
Corner Clash RPS is one of my ongoing game projects: a way to explore decision-making through something people can play. It brings a concrete board, visible rules, and different computer opponents into the same experience.
Where Jev fits
The game uses Jev, TypeSafe’s decision model, for selectable AI opponent modes. Jev is designed to return structured choices, scores, and probabilities that software can use. The game offers Instinct, Informed, Rookie, and Mindreader modes alongside conventional computer difficulty settings.
Try it
The public game is playable in your browser. Try the conventional computer opponents and Jev modes to explore different approaches to the same board.
Connecting purchasing decisions, product records, and labels—with a person checking the details that matter.
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The work
Retail operations often carry the same information through vendor research, purchasing, product records, Shopify imports, and labels. This example connects those steps into a more deliberate workflow.
My contribution
I work through the process from research to usable product information, organizing the handoffs and deciding where automation helps. The goal is to make the information easier for the people using it to review and maintain.
Where AI fits
AI can help research, organize, and draft. People verify product details, approve purchasing decisions, and check records before they are used. Those checks are part of the workflow.
A practical outcome
When AI flagged rising shipping charges in vendor invoices, I verified the pattern and negotiated fixed shipping pricing with the vendor.
A repeatable production process for footage, narration, captions, and the revisions that bring them together.
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The work
A production workflow for project walkthroughs, practical demonstrations, and selected creative work. It brings source footage, a narrative, captions, and review into a consistent process.
My contribution
I designed and directed the reusable workflow and made the editorial decisions. The workflow keeps room for review and revisions before a finished video is shared.
Where AI fits
AI-assisted tools can support drafting, transcription, narration, and production tasks. The story, source choices, and final review stay with me.
A finished example
One completed video was submitted as part of my Optimist Ventures pitch. Selected public videos will appear here when they are ready. For now, the Ridge & Reason and AI Token Garden YouTube channels are linked below.
Illustrative workflow · Public videos to follow
From an idea to real use
01DesignShape the website
→
02LaunchInto real use
→
03BookingThe first received
Design direction → AI-assisted development → real use
05 / Business applicationsIn real use
A website that reached real customers
Design and AI-assisted development for a business website that received its first party booking.
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My contribution
I directed the design and AI-assisted development of a website for another business.
The outcome
The site went into real use and received its first party booking.
Illustrative project stages · Business details kept private
02 / Follow the work
More of the process, soon.
Videos are on the way. In the meantime, you can find both channels on YouTube.
I’ve called Asheville home since 1998. My background includes coursework in Computer Programming and Accounting at both NC State and A-B Tech. My work began with computer repair and customer support, then grew into business operations and automation.
At Home Carefree and Vital Homecare in Asheville, I used AutoHotkey scripts to automate repetitive administrative data entry within their existing confidentiality and HIPAA procedures. That experience connected practical automation with the responsibility of protecting client information, well before today’s AI tools.
My operations experience spans home care and retail, from budgeting, bookkeeping, payroll, and HR to IT and staff support. In retail, I’ve also handled purchasing, inventory, vendor negotiations, marketing, events, and day-to-day shop operations. That work connects technical decisions to the needs of customers, staff, and the business.
I’ve handled landlord negotiations involving lease renewal, Hurricane Helene recovery, and repairs, and worked with lawyers on zoning and credit card processor issues. I’ve also attended vendor exhibitions. My business setup work includes establishing operational systems and procedures.
Today, I bring that practical background to building AI tools and helping business owners and staff use technology thoughtfully. Through individual guidance and group demonstrations, I help people decide when to use AI, another system, or their own judgment.
Outside client work, I enjoy strategy games, experimenting with AI, and finding new ways to tell stories through video.
CredentialGoogle AI Professional Certificate
Hurricane HeleneRead the storyClose the story+
Cleanup and essential supplies
The day after Hurricane Helene, I helped check and clean up a local business. Alongside our team, I helped give away water, food, and sanitary supplies to neighbors who needed them.
Fuel and communication
I provided a diesel van for gasoline deliveries to stranded drivers and coordinated with a local radio station while other communications were down.
Prioritizing staff support
I helped prioritize funds for immediate payment of staff’s paid time off. Some staff members had lost their vehicles or homes, making that support especially urgent.
Securing recovery grants
I researched recovery funding and personally wrote grant applications that secured support for a local business. I used AI to research opportunities and work through ideas, while retaining authorship and responsibility for the applications.
Let’s make something useful
Have a project in mind?
A practical business problem, an experiment, or an idea worth exploring—I’d like to hear about it.
01 / AI researchLive experiment