A personal journey of using AI to create meaningful applications
The Future of AI blog series is an evolving collection of posts from the AI Futures team in collaboration with subject matter experts across Microsoft and the community. In this series, we explore tools and technologies that will drive the next generation of AI. Explore more at: https://aka.ms/the-future-of-ai
Figure 1 : Lovable.dev makes app development as simple as having a conversation**Guest Author Disclosure**: This blog post is authored by Charles Elwood, a guest contributor. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Microsoft.
My name is Charles Elwood (ชาลี). I'm a Microsoft AI MVP, TEDx Speaker, co-president of the West Michigan Asian American Association, President of the Lakeshore United Rotaract Club, and recently earned the LinkedIn Top Voice blue badge—an incredible honor that wouldn't have happened without the support I've gained through my AI MVP journey and the Microsoft FounderHub Startups program.
When I first started exploring AI, I never imagined that my passion for technology would lead to profound human impacts—empowering individuals and simplifying lives. Today, AI doesn't just fill my workdays; it fuels my mission to make technology accessible and inclusive for everyone.
Discovering Lovable.dev and Azure OpenAI Integration
Recently, I discovered Lovable.dev—a remarkable platform allowing anyone to build fully functioning AI-powered apps just by having a simple conversation. Three years ago, I struggled to even grasp what an API was, let alone integrate it. Now, with Lovable, I'm connecting powerful Azure OpenAI APIs and building functional prototypes in a couple of hours, dramatically accelerating the way I build solutions that change lives.
Real-Life Stories of AI Impact
Simplifying Corporate Expenses after a Trade Mission
After returning from a U.S. Commercial Service trade mission, I faced the daunting task of submitting expense reports involving international receipts, multiple currencies, and fluctuating exchange rates. The process was time-consuming and frustrating—I often spent several hours manually collecting receipts, calculating totals, removing non-reimbursable items, writing currency conversions by hand on each image, and then scanning everything into the required format.
I knew there had to be a better way.
Using Lovable.dev, I quickly built an app that integrates GPT-4 Omni in Azure OpenAI to intelligently parse receipts, convert currencies, and annotate images with calculations—all through a simple interface. Now, expense reports take just a few minutes. I upload the receipt image, input the applicable exchange rate, mark reimbursable items, and click download.
This new workflow has reduced my reporting time by over 80%, significantly minimized the chance of human error, and brought a welcome sense of consistency and ease to a task that used to drain hours from my day.
Figure 2 :The receipt processing app automatically extracts data from images and handles currency conversion
Giving Chris Martin His Voice Back—Again
Some of you might have heard Chris Martin's moving story, a former radio DJ who lost his voice to cancer. Three years ago, we created his custom neural voice, but Chris struggled to use it freely because he preferred writing in cursive. Traditional speech apps didn't support his handwriting, and the costs of running neural voices on standard servers added complexity.
Using Lovable.dev and Azure AI Foundry, I integrated Azure OCR to recognize Chris' handwriting, translating his cursive into text and then directly feeding it into his Custom Neural Voice. I also tackled UX challenges—Chris hated waiting blindly for servers to start, so now a clear timer reassures him while loading. Additionally, saving common phrases and suggesting efficient Azure credit usage simplified the entire experience. Explaining Azure credits to non-technical users remains a challenge, but each iteration improves clarity, accessibility, and empowerment for users like Chris.
Figure 3 : The application that converts Chris's cursive handwriting to speech using his custom neural voice
The gift of a voice to those that are nonverbal
Years ago, we shipped an Azure Percept device to Puerto Rico to support Maria—a brilliant nonverbal young woman with motion constraints—by recognizing her custom sign language gestures and generating speech using a neural voice modeled after her mother’s. While the solution worked, it took weeks of coordination to deploy hardware, develop models, and write the backend code needed to make everything work.
With Lovable.dev, I was able to recreate and improve this solution in just under 3 hours, building a complete app that connected Custom Vision to a new Custom Neural Voice, all through intuitive conversations—no complex backend coding or SQL setup required. I emailed the app to Maria’s team in Puerto Rico minutes after building it, and they were able to test it the same day.
Hosting secure API keys, integrating with Supabase, and enabling real-time gesture-to-voice translation was no longer a multi-week project—it became a rapid, testable reality in a single afternoon.
Maria’s world continues to expand, and her journey reminds me why this work matters: platforms like Lovable.dev aren’t just accelerating development—they’re unlocking human potential faster than ever before.
Figure 4 : Maria's application translates her custom signs to speech using her mother's voiceCurrent Innovations
I'm now working with AquoraRC, an innovative company helping health departments test wastewater for viruses like Avian Flu and COVID-19. Integrating Azure's Power BI API with Lovable.dev, we aim to visualize crucial health data dynamically, further democratizing information that can improve public health responses globally.
The Technical Magic (Briefly)
Lovable.dev eliminates barriers that previously slowed me down—complex backend database management, manual SQL coding, and the challenge of securely handling API keys. Now, with Supabase seamlessly integrated for secure API key storage, Lovable.dev can generate full-stack React apps, backend databases, edge functions, and even custom SQL queries—all through simple, natural language conversations.
Watching a working solution come together in under 10 minutes, without writing a single line of backend code, is still astonishing. What once took hours of manual setup now unfolds with an ease that feels truly empowering.
A Bigger Vision and Invitation
My journey continues as I focus locally—helping my Rotary Clubs in District 6290 thrive and tackling statewide challenges by proposing ambitious AI solutions directly to Michigan's leadership. In fact, I used Lovable.dev to create a comprehensive proposal for a Chief AI Officer position for Michigan, which I presented to our governor. Globally, I'm expanding my efforts, leveraging AI to improve lives in Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines.
I deeply believe AI can empower every individual and community, bridging cultures and making technology accessible for good. This belief is echoed by global leaders—in fact, the World Economic Forum’s 2024 report on AI for Impact found that AI is being used worldwide to enhance livelihoods, democratize access to innovation, and enable inclusive, community-driven solutions, especially across lower-income regions.
I share these adventures weekly on LinkedIn, highlighting the ups and downs, breakthroughs, and lessons learned. I invite you all to join this journey with me. Follow along, share your ideas, and let's inspire each other to build solutions that genuinely impact the world.
Together, let's show the world how quickly dreams can become reality when powerful AI tools meet compassionate human goals.
