Not long ago, artificial intelligence (AI) was nothing more than a thought experiment relegated to science fiction novels and films. Just a decade ago, AI applications were emerging, but were somewhat rare and limited in potential. But today, we have access to hundreds of innovative AI creations, and they’ve been able to dazzle even the most enthusiastic technology lovers with impressive capabilities. That means now could be the perfect time to build a custom AI tool – regardless of what you have in mind for it.
Custom AI Tool Possibilities
According to software development company DEV, there are usually three possible motivations for developing a custom AI tool:
- Sale/profit. Some people are interested in developing a custom AI tool so that they can sell it to other individuals and businesses for profit. You might develop a tool designed for businesses within a certain industry, or one with a novel practical application for individual users. Either way, if you can build an effective tool and market it correctly, you could generate a lucrative income from the product.
- Business advancement. Some businesses are more interested in developing custom AI tools for internal use. AI can drastically reduce the amount of manual time and effort you need to spend in your business. It can enhance your capabilities. It can even save you money in some cases. If the AI tools currently on the market don’t suit your needs, or if you just think you can make something a little bit better, it’s worth pursuing.
- Personal use. You may also be interested in custom AI tools for personal use, especially if you have a favorite hobby that could benefit from manual task automation.
Why Now Is the Perfect Time to Build a Custom AI Tool
So why is now the perfect time to build a custom AI tool?
Major AI breakthroughs.
In the past few years, we’ve seen some amazing AI breakthroughs. While we’ve had tools that can recognize human speech and produce comprehensible language, modern language models that formed the basis of generative AI platforms have exceeded all expectations. The world of AI is advancing so rapidly that some people are even concerned about prospective existential threats, which is a lot of power to harness if you know how to do it wisely.
Increased demand.
Unsurprisingly, demand for custom AI tools has exploded in recent years. Businesses and individuals everywhere are looking for the latest and greatest in AI technology, so they can use it to gain a competitive edge, make more money, or save time. If you can go to market with a tool that appeals to a target niche, and you can avoid significant competition, you can generate tons of revenue.
Enormous automation potential.
One of the greatest strengths of AI is that it has the potential to automate what used to be manual tasks. And these days, it can automate far more than just data entry or highly repetitive tasks. In some applications, AI could save you hundreds of hours of time.
Open-source code.
Open-source generative AI code is relatively common, and you can use it as a foundation for your own custom tools. Even if you’re not an experienced AI developer, as long as you’re familiar with the fundamentals, you can use this code as a basis for your own unique, custom products.
Limited competition.
Even though there’s a kind of gold rush in the AI world, we’re still in the early days of this technological revolution. That means your competition is going to be limited. It’s still important to do some competitive research and find ways to differentiate your products – but if you can build and launch an AI product in the next year or two, you’ll still be an early actor in the market.
Customization enhancements.
Customization allows you to make up for the weaknesses of existing AI technology. Take ChatGPT as an example. This tool is incredibly impressive, but it’s also somewhat limited in scope, accessing only some types of information. If you build a custom tool, you can give it access to any kind of information you want.
Defining Your Scope
At this point, you understand the practically unlimited potential of developing a custom AI tool. Now, all that’s left is deciding what type of AI tool you want to build. Do you want to focus on generative AI that can produce text, images, and videos? Do you want to build a data analytics system that can crunch even the largest sets of data points? Or are you going to shoot for something bolder and even more innovative?
It’s all up to you. This is only the beginning of the AI explosion, and if you’re an early developer on the curve, you stand to benefit enormously.
Photo by Igor Omilaev; Unsplash
