How AI Ruined My Friend
I have a friend who aspires to have his own startup. He intended to do it alone so used AI to prepare all his business, marketing and operation plans. AI helped him to write a fantastic business plan. When he shared the plans to our group of friends. We all told him that we are not sure about his idea because he has not tested his ideas. He has not fully explored how users feel about using his solutions.
Through vibecoding, he created a prototype. Our group of friends used the app and gave some feedback. The AI implemented the feedback but created other issues. I think my friend got caught in a cycle, ended up creating a massive app filled with functions that nobody asked for. Our friend has also given up testing the app for him.
Soon, him started sharing his app download links, webpage and even advertisements on social media. There were some interests on the app, but it never took off.
He has stopped coming out for our gathering. Other friends told me that there were just no interest in the app. Also, there are many similar ideas in the market as well. None of those apps did well. There were also speculations that he had purchased all sorts of AI services to build this startup.
We will never know how big of a financial hole he has made. When ChatGPT was first launched. I had the exact same idea - To create my own startup. After a few tries and prompt, I know I will not get it off the ground.
- AI will always agree with you. No matter how bad the idea is, it will cherry pick evidence and give you a fantastic proposal.
- AI does not have the basic human instinct to see whether the idea or good or bad.
- AI cannot read human emotions. How users feel about your idea is never taken into consideration.
- Vibecoding should be used as a tool to learn programming or create MVP. At the moment, tweaking and maintenance still need human intervention.
- AI is an enabler, it amplifies your results and your failures.
If you have a good idea, AI can make it better. If you have a bad idea, AI cannot improve it, it can only make it worst. AI as a tool is amazing but cannot replace thinking and human connections.