Car boot sales and AI - an unlikely marriage

I've always loved car boot sales (or Swap Meets as they call them stateside). As a visitor, it's the ultimate chance to rummage through others in search of that elusive bargain, usually ending with a delightfully unexpected selection of the bizarre and out of character that become a part of your life from that moment on.

The Beauty of the Boot

And for the seller, sellers like me who don't have the time or inclination to list everything individually on ebay. You set up your stall, tip out your stuff and let others make offers.

It is this essentially lazy aspect of my character that led to the creation of Rummij. Why not just take a single picture of all of the stuff I want rid of and see if anyone wants it? Yet it wasn't until the dawn of AI, specifically vision AI systems for segmentation and identification systems combined with the immense and instant knowledge of LLMs, that this dream could finally become a reality.

Yes, I did write this blog post myself (even though the image is AI generated) and no, I don't write all of them (thanks pullnote) but I hope that your lazy side enjoys it as much as mine :)