Artificial Intelligence Radically Changes Viability in Innovation
It’s impossible to have a conversation on innovation without wandering into artificial intelligence.
Although it feels like AI has advanced lightyears in a mere matter of months, and in many ways, it has, the truth is that AI is a broad field and has been advancing for years. Recent advances in generative/large language models and their application to chatbot-like interfaces have made AI more visible, more relatable, and more accessible to the general public.
I’m frequently asked about Don’t Panic Labs’ experience in AI as entrepreneurs and innovators explore how to leverage these new capabilities. The fact is we’ve been using intelligent algorithms within product experiences for the past nearly 15 years. Our journey started with EliteForm and Ocuvera, both leveraging aspects of AI (machine learning, computer vision, and other techniques) to build products that radically changed strength training and patient safety within clinical settings.
Fast forward to today. One of the latest products that we’ve built is Anchovy. On the surface, the application makes recipe capture and sharing easy. Behind the scenes, a large language model actually performs the heavy lifting of translating an image to a fully structured and correct recipe—even from the incomplete scribbles of Grandma’s kolache recipe.
What have we learned from this set of experiences, and what can we apply to today?
Simply put, each time AI (or another technology) leaps forward, business models or solutions to problems that were previously not viable become viable. It’s possible that Anchovy could have been built years ago, but it would have come with extreme amounts of effort and numerous limitations.
With the availability of large language models, the game changed, and entrepreneurs can now explore solving these types of problems. These advances require us to think differently about how technologies can be applied. If we only thought of large language models through a chatbot-like experience, we would miss envisioning a product that used one without a conversational experience.
Every time technology takes a leap, I urge three things from everyone involved in innovation:
- Expand your mental model of what’s possible by seeking out examples of how technology is being used. Only through this exposure will you connect the dots.
- Revisit past problem-solution hypotheses that you put away as not viable. Cases where you validated a problem but were unable to find a viable solution may now be possible through new technologies.
- Consider leveraging individual capabilities of that technology to create unique revenue streams. For example, adding specific prompting in AI may create a differentiator between a free and paid or add-on tier.
- Partner with someone who has broad experience leveraging these technologies. It’s likely that they’ve been exposed to lots of possibilities and can help you identify ways of applying technologies in new and novel ways.
I look forward to seeing what novel products and experiences everyone dreams up over the coming years!
