In my recent post about holiday catalogs, I talked about the irony of Amazon bringing back physical catalogs to reconnect with the human experience. It is a sign of the times. As we accelerate into a digital-first future, we crave the grounded, the simple, and the real.
This brings me to a core philosophy I am building at Kakt.ai. I believe the future is dividing into two paths. First, there are those who let AI take the wheel entirely and eventually lose touch with the human reality of their business. Then, there are those who use it as a partner to amplify their own creativity, legacy wisdom, and personal identity.
I chose the second path. And I used a 23-year-old software disc to prove it.
Resurrecting a “Primitive” Digital Identity
I recently took FrontPage 2003 for a spin to build the foundation for BlueYucca.com. On the surface, it looks like a nostalgia trip. But under the hood, it was a test of the AI and human partnership.
Getting legacy software to thrive in 2026 isn’t a one-click AI prompt. It required my own intent to create a “No Bloat” digital home that prioritizes ownership over proprietary “Link in Bio” traps. It required the raw, simple HTML structure of FrontPage 2003. Finally, it required using Gemini as a technical partner to navigate compatibility layers and optimize that primitive code for a modern global edge network.
The Result: Performance without the Dependency
By using AI as a partner rather than a crutch, I achieved a 100% Performance Score on GTmetrix.
If I had asked an AI to build me a modern website from scratch, it likely would have suggested a bloated framework filled with the very scripts I am trying to avoid. Instead, I provided the direction, the simplicity, and the nostalgia. I used AI to solve the technical friction.
Why Partnering is the Only Way Forward for Small Business
Just like those Toys R Us catalogs, human interaction doesn’t disappear in an AI world. It returns, shaped by the world that changed around it.
At Kakt.ai, the “No Bloat” strategy is built on this partnership. AI handles the heavy lifting like troubleshooting and optimizing. Humans handle the soul. That includes the brand, the story, the marathoner discipline, and the digital identity.
If you want the bells and whistles of a 100% AI-generated existence, that is one path. But if you want to own your digital identity with a stack that is lightning fast, simple, and uniquely yours, you need to find the balance.
The basics still work. They just work better with a partner.
Take a ride through the result for yourself at BlueYucca.com.