I'd argue the total opposite. AI reducing the barrier to entry means you're going to have 100x the competition in any software-adjacent business. This might be the worst time in history to launch an app idea.
"You don’t need to know anything" isn't a good thing.
A conversation
0views
6
Comments 6
Back to the full conversation
Guy
When did he say that? His point was entirely business-related.
How does one guard against the forthcoming flood of low-quality software? What is one's moat against the deluge of other, similarly-piss-poor "You don't need to know anything"-types all shouting "pick me"? None of whom understand databases, technical debt, scaling laws, solid architectures etc.?
Perhaps an already established business can use LLMs to increase their development pace a (fair) bit. But *starting* a business now seems to be a fool's errand. Your comment of "but right now no one really knows" flies in the face of all that I'm seeing on the internet.
My final point. AI software looks brand new and shiny on Day 1, but very little of it will look very good on Day 365 unless a fairly competent software engineer/coder is keeping it on a short leash throughout. Fable or no Fable.
Angus
Depends on the perspective. It's better for consumers and hobbyists. Almost certainly worse for anyone who wants to create a product to sell.
Its never been a skill gate-kept within a secret society or expensive university course. It was always available for free to anyone who put in a little effort.
The effort and skill required is what enables a profit margin to exist for a business. Consider dropshipping: it's almost impossible to create a business around that long-term because it'll be copied and undercut within days.
Tynan
But what if you put in the same amount of effort and get 20x the results. You are competing with others that do that, but the people that are not using AI get left behind, so you have less competition.
I agree that very basic apps/sites become a commodity like dropshipping, but remember that dropshipping had its moment where a lot of people made a lot of money. That moment is now for AI driven development.
Taylor Levinson
I'm thinking it's the middle path on this...
To Angus' point, a lot of things (SAAS, apps, other digital content and tools) will become a race to the bottom as barriers to entry approach zero.
To Tynan's point, this is all incredibly empowering, especially for the entrpeneurially-inclined...
Seeing Ai as a "force multiplier" is the mental model that feels right to me at the moment
So would it be better if more knowledge was required and fewer people were able to create things?