I'm Will Edmonds. I work in communications and use AI to make tools, products and research projects. This site contains the results.
ideas, taken further than strictly necessary ↘
I've worked in communications for most of my career. In 2022 I started building things with AI, initially just to test a few ideas. It has become a fairly persistent habit.
The result so far: a research site, several tools, a media platform, a children's product and a growing number of things that need maintaining. Most involve language, media, politics, public information or New Zealand. A few are harder to explain.
The Lab is for projects involving an unreasonable amount of public data. Issue one draws on 55,000 government press releases and roughly 900,000 official information requests. Issue two begins in Papers Past, the National Library's online archive of historic New Zealand newspapers. Visit the lab ↗
Matrimonial ads placed in New Zealand newspapers between 1870 and 1945, found in the National Library's digitised archive. They are hopeful, blunt, odd and occasionally alarming. Every notice links back to the original newspaper page. Read the notices ↗
More than 50,000 New Zealand government press releases, showing when familiar phrases first appeared, peaked and faded—and what replaced them. Explore the phrases ↗
I scored nearly 55,000 ministerial press releases for reading difficulty and turned the results into an eye test. It shows how much government writing sits above the level most adults read comfortably: the average release requires university-level reading. Take the test ↗
A catalogue of 24 ways political writing softens, inflates or obscures. Each pattern is counted across nearly 48,000 government press releases and illustrated with linked examples. You can also paste in your own writing to see what turns up. Open the guide ↗
The Waiting Room compares how New Zealand government agencies respond when people ask for official information. Built from ten years and more than 900,000 requests, it shows who answers quickly, who misses or extends deadlines, and how often requests are refused. Police accounts for most late replies because it handles enormous volume; policy ministries are usually slower. Take a number ↗
The findings from issue one, with methods, source links and the evidence behind each claim. Read the notes ↗
the archive is not getting smaller
Things I've built myself. screens below
The Current is a media-monitoring platform for New Zealand organisations. It collects local news, matches each story to the issues a client cares about, and turns the results into alerts and executive briefings. It isn't for sale, but I use it myself. It is also a fairly elaborate excuse to build something close to a commercial SaaS platform around New Zealand's peculiar media landscape.
Status — in development
Media training for people who suddenly have to front a journalist. It uses AI to run live practice interviews over voice and webcam, with distinct interviewer personas based on recognisable New Zealand media styles. Each has its own priorities, questioning style and willingness to let a weak answer pass. Afterwards, PressPrep scores the interview and produces coaching notes. Realistic practice without the four-figure day rate.
Status — prototype
Gently Told turns whatever is happening in a child's world—a first day, a new sibling, a big question or an adventure—into a personalised audio story for ages three to seven. Each starts from a story framework based on child-development research, shaped around the child's own details and written for their age. A parent reads and can edit every word before it is narrated with music, ready for the app, an MP3 or a Yoto player.
Status — product
MyRefix compares two fixed mortgage terms and works out the break-even rate. It sits among various small tools I wanted, couldn't find and therefore made. Most do one thing and stop.
Status — assorted