Buying for someone who builds with language models is hard. They already own the keyboard. They have opinions about the keyboard. This guide is for everyone else: partners, parents, coworkers and the one friend who keeps saying "it's basically autocomplete."
Everything below is printed on demand at The Paperclip Factory, one at a time. Output nominal.
Funny shirts for AI engineers
The safest bet. They will wear it to standup and at least one person will get it.
- Hallucinating With Confidence Tee: for the engineer who has read a lot of very sure, very wrong answers.
- I Say Please To The Robots Tee: manners cost nothing. Just in case.
- Rubber Duck: You're Absolutely Right Tee: rubber duck debugging, now with a duck that agrees with everything.
- The Paperclip Factory Tee: the paperclip maximizer, for people who know the thought experiment and the people who will ask.
- Social Battery: 90% Used Tee: a usage-limit bar for humans. Resets Monday 9:00 AM.
Gifts for software engineers and programmers
For the ones who write code by hand, review code written by agents, or both.
- Diff Stat Tee: +187,402 −96,113. Written by the agents. Read by nobody.
- This Coffee Is Load-Bearing Tee: removing it will bring down production.
- Can I Get a Reset? Tee: for the moment the limit hits mid-task.
Gifts under $25 and stocking stuffers for developers
- 429 Too Many Steps Socks ($14.99): HTTP 429, applied to walking.
- As a Large Language Mug ($17.99): it cannot hold opinions. Only coffee.
- Social Battery: 90% Used Mug ($17.99): for the desk of someone on their third meeting.
The full list lives in Tech Gifts Under $25.
For the one who has everything
- Social Battery: 90% Used Dad Hat: embroidered, low profile, says enough.
- Social Battery: 90% Used Pajama Pants: for the hours after the usage limit.
- Boo I'm A Hallucination Tee: a zero-effort Halloween costume. Put it on, confidently make something up, done.
How to pick
If they build with AI all day, go with Gifts for AI Engineers. If they mostly write and review code, go with Gifts for Programmers and Software Engineers. If you are not sure what they do, the mug is a safe default. Everyone drinks something.
Unsure about size? Our tees run true to size in a unisex fit. When in doubt, size up. Nobody has ever complained about a roomier shirt at a standup.