1. Premise one: Software shapes the people who use it.

  2. Premise two: I write software.

  3. Therefore: I think hard about what I build.

Liam Goring

Full stack developer and philosopher

I build production-grade web apps and think carefully about how AI changes the craft.

See the workGet in touch
Portrait of Liam Goring

About

I'm a full stack developer who thinks carefully about what software is actually for. I work across the frontend and the backend, but the thread running through all of it is how technology shapes the people who use it.

That interest led me to publish writing on AI ethics in Becoming Human and to pursue philosophy alongside my engineering work. I think the best developers aren't only technically sharp. They ask harder questions about systems, incentives, and consequences.

Day to day I use AI tools throughout my workflow, from code generation to research to documentation. I keep a critical eye on where automation helps and where human judgement is irreplaceable. That balance is what I bring to every project.

Work and writing

Things I've built and written, in order.

  1. The Ethical Computer Professional

    What do we owe the people our code affects?

    An essay on the ethical responsibilities that come with writing software: professional conduct, AI, privacy, and the social impact of technical decisions. Published in Becoming Human, an AI-focused publication on Medium.

    Ethics, AI, Philosophy

    Read the article: The Ethical Computer Professional (opens in new tab)

  2. Jokebot

    Could a bot learn humour from the people it talks to?

    A full-stack chatbot that tells knock-knock jokes and learns new ones from users, saving them to a SQLite database.

    PHP, Laravel, Vue 3, TypeScript, SQLite

    View project: Jokebot (opens in new tab)

  3. PicBot Express

    Set it and forget it, for servers that want a steady stream of images.

    A Discord bot that posts images from a configured library on a schedule.

    Python, MySQL, Discord API

    View project: PicBot Express (opens in new tab)

  4. DIP-Bot

    A toolkit for servers that post a lot of images.

    A Discord bot built with Python and MySQL that provides image posting utilities for servers.

    Python, MySQL, Discord API

    View project: DIP-Bot (opens in new tab)

  5. –present

    This portfolio

    A place to show the work and the thinking behind it.

    Built with Astro and TypeScript, and deployed to GitHub Pages with GitHub Actions.

    Astro, TypeScript, CSS

    View project: This portfolio (opens in new tab)

Skills, indexed

The tools I reach for, alphabetically.

A

  • Agile, practice
  • AngularJS, frontend
  • Astro, frontend; see also TypeScript
  • AWS, tools

C

D

G

  • Git, tools
  • GitHub Actions, tools; see also DevOps
  • GitHub Copilot, AI

K

  • Kiro, AI

L

M

  • MySQL, backend; see also Python

N

  • Node.js, backend

P

R

  • REST APIs, practice

S

  • SEO, practice

T

  • Testing, practice
  • TypeScript, frontend; see also Astro, Vue.js

V

W

  • Web performance, practice; see also SEO

AI in my workflow

Not a replacement for thinking, a force multiplier.

Where I draw the line in each area of work. The splits are a rough sketch, not a measurement.

  • What I hand offBoilerplate, scaffolding and first-pass debuggingKiro, GitHub Copilot, Claude

    What I keepArchitecture and the logic that matters

    I use Kiro, GitHub Copilot and Claude to speed up development, from generating boilerplate to chasing tricky edge cases. AI handles the repetitive scaffolding so I can focus on architecture and logic.

    I hand off most of this.

  • What I hand offDigesting long docs and unfamiliar APIsChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude

    What I keepDeciding what is true and what matters

    LLMs changed how I research unfamiliar APIs, digest long docs and explore new domains. What used to take hours of reading now takes minutes of targeted conversation.

    Roughly an even split.

  • What I hand offBrainstorming edge cases and test scenarios

    What I keepJudging which issues are real and what ships

    AI helps me think through edge cases, generate test scenarios and review my own code for issues I might have missed. It is a tireless second pair of eyes on every pull request.

    Roughly an even split.

  • What I hand offA working first draft of pipelines and scripts

    What I keepDefining the problem and reviewing the result

    From CI/CD pipeline configuration to one-off data transformation scripts, AI cuts the time I spend on automation. I describe the problem; it proposes a working starting point.

    I hand off most of this.

  • What I hand offDrafting and line edits

    What I keepThe ideas, domain knowledge and final call

    Blog posts, READMEs and spec documents all benefit from AI drafting and editing. I keep the ideas, the domain knowledge and the final judgement; AI helps me say them clearly.

    I keep most of this.

  • What I hand offExplanations on demand and Socratic questioning

    What I keepThe understanding itself

    AI has become an on-demand tutor. It explains new concepts, walks through algorithms and challenges my understanding through Socratic dialogue, with instant feedback alongside traditional learning.

    I keep most of this.

I have written about the ethics of technology and AI, including an article in Becoming Human(opens in new tab), so I care about how and why these tools get adopted. AI is most useful when the developer keeps ownership of the problem, the architecture and the outcome. It accelerates execution; engineering judgement still drives every meaningful decision.

If any of this resonates, let's talk.

I'm open to collaboration, new opportunities, or just a good conversation.