Empathy and Evals
A blog exploring AI evaluation, product thinking, and learning in public. Thinking out loud about how we build, test, and improve AI systems with empathy at the core.
Hi, I'm Rishi. I help companies and individuals translate their ideas+imagination to tangible outcomes.
I live stories, build technology, write poetry and sing occasionally.
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Select Work
Arduino For Kids
A book teaching kids science through storytelling, open-source hardware, and Arduino prototyping. Making electronics accessible and fun for young makers and curious minds.
Disaster Reporting System
Project Floating Camera: a low-cost device inspired by the Chennai floods that periodically captures and uploads ground-level images via a Wi-Fi mesh network, helping responders see what satellites cannot.
Live Still Life Art
A collaboration with Dutch artists Justus and Mingus, streaming a still life composition live using a Raspberry Pi camera and a custom Node.js server. Built at Workbench Projects, Bangalore.
Buzz for POLY
Concept + Lead Engineer - What if a plant can tell you it is thirsty?
Surge Send
A platform for storing and sharing large files up to 250GB with pause/resume uploads, 256-bit encryption, cross-device continuity, and torrent-powered delivery for speed.
Kaavadia
A tech platform leveraging voice and AI recognition to reconnect generations through storytelling in 10 Indian languages. Recognized on the Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia list.
Thoughts
trauma.md
What if you kept an honest file of the patterns that get in your way? Not for AI, but for yourself.
On ChatGPT, mistakes and humanity
A story about buying a monitor on Facebook Marketplace, a ChatGPT mistake, and what it reveals about humanity's relationship with AI and critical thinking.
On action, agency & delulu
On how taking action builds agency, giving things a fighting chance, and choosing to operate from a place of delulu belief in the magic of the universe.
On lunchboxes
A reflection on growing up with packed food for travel, the shift from shame to gratitude, and the wisdom of a mother's love through lunchboxes.
On magic carpets
A vivid dream of a yellow-red carpet, unexpected invitations to Egypt and Morocco, and finding the dream carpet in a Marrakech bazaar. On Makhtub and magic.
On Byes
On emotional bankruptcy, the absence of people we love, saying goodbye, and the spaces left behind by those who have departed from our lives.
On fighting chances
A visit to an animal rescue centre in Bangalore and a conversation with Dr Roopa about giving things a fighting chance and letting the universe handle the rest.