Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Don't build AI products the way everyone else is doing it

builder.io

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

131–140 of 261 posts

Re: Don't build AI products the way everyone else is doing it

#131

Post by goalieca »

ravenstine wrote: post #10

I appreciate the overall sentiment of the post, but I can't say I would choose anything like the implementation the author is suggesting. My takeaway is to avoid relying too heavily on LLMs both in terms of the scope tasks given to them as well as relying too heavily on any specific LLM. I think this is correct for many reasons. Firstly, you probably don't want to compete directly with ChatGPT, even if you are using…

> run. For instance, if you are building an app that uses OpenAI to book hotels and flights by chatting with a bot, chances are someday either ChatGPT or something by Microsoft or Google will do that and make your puny little business totally obsolete.

How many times have we been down the path of “travel website making it easy to find the best deal and book your flight”. I don’t see how AI will do it any differently and how AI won’t inevitably run into all the same constraints.

Re: Don't build AI products the way everyone else is doing it

#132

Post by yen223 »

ryandrake wrote: post #128
fillskills wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This. Avoid the “If have hammer, everything looks like a nail” strategy. Find a customer pain point and use the right blend of tools. You can also make a new tool where tools dont exist

Being a "AI startup" makes about as much sense as being a "Python startup." What does your company do? We do Python! OK, but what problem are you solving? Lots of them, but what's important is we solve it using Python code!

Welcome to the world of consultancies!

Re: Don't build AI products the way everyone else is doing it

#133

Post by ancientworldnow »

threeseed wrote: post #73
BillFranklin wrote: post #7

This is a nice post, and I think it will resonate with most new AI startups. My advice would be don't build an AI product at all. To my mind an "x product" is rarely the framing that will lead to value being added for customers. E.g. a web3 product, an observability product, a machine vision product, an AI product. Like all decent startup ideas the obviously crucial thing is to start with a real user need rather than…

> I think most people I know offline hate interacting with chat bots as products It's hilarious to me when people are bringing back chat bots as a concept. We had chat bots a few years ago and it was something that almost all larger companies had built strategies around. The idea being that they could significantly reduce call centre staff and improve customer experience. And it wasn't just that the quality of the co…

No, it's that chat bots have no actual power to fix most issues. They exist to make it more difficult to escalate up the bureaucracy where there is staff that can actually problem solve, issue refunds, give credits, etc. Chat bots are merely a filter to get rid of easily pacified pushover customers and those who refuse to read instructions or documentation.

Re: Don't build AI products the way everyone else is doing it

#134

Post by Torkel »

threeseed wrote: post #73
BillFranklin wrote: post #7

This is a nice post, and I think it will resonate with most new AI startups. My advice would be don't build an AI product at all. To my mind an "x product" is rarely the framing that will lead to value being added for customers. E.g. a web3 product, an observability product, a machine vision product, an AI product. Like all decent startup ideas the obviously crucial thing is to start with a real user need rather than…

> I think most people I know offline hate interacting with chat bots as products It's hilarious to me when people are bringing back chat bots as a concept. We had chat bots a few years ago and it was something that almost all larger companies had built strategies around. The idea being that they could significantly reduce call centre staff and improve customer experience. And it wasn't just that the quality of the co…

I work in a small team with increadibly good programmers. ChatGPT as of right now is not good enough to replace asking one of them for help when I am stuck. But it is good enough to replace stack overflow.

Look forward.

A year ago I would have so agreed with what you say. But look where we are already. And think about what will come. My god. We're in for a ride here. Saying that chatbots sucked last time we tried that is missing that a revolution is taking place. It's like saying solar will never work because a single solar panel cost a fortune back in the 70:s.

My take on this is that not only are chatbot coming back big. We're getting the droids from Star Wars within a decade or so.

Re: Don't build AI products the way everyone else is doing it

#135

Post by stocknoob »

elpakal wrote: post #117
stocknoob wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This drug only helps 80% of patients, it’s useless.

This drug only killed 20% of patients. We should sell it.

Great analogy for LLMs, I think you understood my point perfectly.

Re: Don't build AI products the way everyone else is doing it

#136

Post by ebalit »

ericskiff wrote: post #127
threeseed wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I think most people I know offline hate interacting with chat bots as products It's hilarious to me when people are bringing back chat bots as a concept. We had chat bots a few years ago and it was something that almost all larger companies had built strategies around. The idea being that they could significantly reduce call centre staff and improve customer experience. And it wasn't just that the quality of the co…

A few months ago, I would’ve agreed with this in theory, but having interacted with an Apple chat bot recently that was fast, seemed empathetic, and immediately solved my problem, I do have to wonder if LLM powered support agents may finally swing this the other direction

Are you sure it was a chat bot? I believe Apple customer service chat wasn't run by bots last time I needed it.

Re: Don't build AI products the way everyone else is doing it

#137

Post by renjimen »

yen223 wrote: post #132
ryandrake wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Being a "AI startup" makes about as much sense as being a "Python startup." What does your company do? We do Python! OK, but what problem are you solving? Lots of them, but what's important is we solve it using Python code!

Welcome to the world of consultancies!

As a consultant this rang far too true

Re: Don't build AI products the way everyone else is doing it

#138

Post by osigurdson »

BillFranklin wrote: post #7

This is a nice post, and I think it will resonate with most new AI startups. My advice would be don't build an AI product at all. To my mind an "x product" is rarely the framing that will lead to value being added for customers. E.g. a web3 product, an observability product, a machine vision product, an AI product. Like all decent startup ideas the obviously crucial thing is to start with a real user need rather than…

>> This is regardless of quality, bots are rarely as good as speaking with a real human being

I avoid calling organizations as I know I will be on hold forever, when I finally do get through to someone usually they provide another number to call and the process repeats. I just want the thing done, as fast as possible - I don't care if I talk to a real person or not. The reason chatbots haven't helped the process so far is they just add more time and annoyance to the process as step 0 is often to get the chatbot to spit out a phone number or (finally) connect you to an agent. This is because, naturally, pre OpenAI chatbots were terrible. If post OpenAI chatbots are awesome, I can't see why people would not use them.

Re: Don't build AI products the way everyone else is doing it

#139

Post by dopidopHN »

osigurdson wrote: post #138
BillFranklin wrote: post #7

This is a nice post, and I think it will resonate with most new AI startups. My advice would be don't build an AI product at all. To my mind an "x product" is rarely the framing that will lead to value being added for customers. E.g. a web3 product, an observability product, a machine vision product, an AI product. Like all decent startup ideas the obviously crucial thing is to start with a real user need rather than…

>> This is regardless of quality, bots are rarely as good as speaking with a real human being I avoid calling organizations as I know I will be on hold forever, when I finally do get through to someone usually they provide another number to call and the process repeats. I just want the thing done, as fast as possible - I don't care if I talk to a real person or not. The reason chatbots haven't helped the process so f…

I don’t even care for a LLM chatbot.

Something with multiple choice would do the trick.

But that system has to have some way to actually do something. Close / open / update a account or record or what have you.

If the bot is a glorify FAQ then I would rather use CTRL+F.

But if the bot, even super dumb, can ID me or see that I’m logged in then change my plan or whatever… I’m happy and that my favorite way.

Amazon does it for instance ( report a lost package and trigger a re-send )

Re: Don't build AI products the way everyone else is doing it

#140

Post by [deleted] »

happytiger wrote: post #102

The issue here isn’t AI, it’s not shovels and goldrushes, and it’s not about building how others are doing it. It’s fundamental value. It’s who is creating value that cannot be destroyed. Who owns the house is determined by who builds the foundation first, and that means those that control the ecosystems. All others will play, survive, rent, and buy inside of those ecosystems. If you’re not building fundamental value…

[deleted]
Post reply on HN