What is Real Problem AI?

Real Problem AI is a curated directory of 100 real problems worth building an AI startup around. Each problem is scored honestly on severity, AI feasibility, market signal, and competition gap. We're for builders looking for what to build, not for ethics debates about AI.

What is the difference between Real Problem AI and AI ethics or AI risks indexes?

Real Problem AI catalogues problems AI can solve — productive, commercial opportunities for builders. AI ethics indexes catalogue problems with AI itself (bias, environmental cost, copyright, consciousness). Different intent, different audience: founders and indie hackers vs researchers and policy folks.

What should I build with AI in 2026?

Look for problems with high severity (it costs people hours, sleep, or revenue every week), high AI feasibility (LLMs, vision or voice are great at this today), strong market signal (Reddit threads + willingness to pay), and a clear competition gap (incumbents miss the same obvious thing). Real Problem AI scores 100 such problems for you on those four axes.

Where do Real Problem AI's startup ideas come from?

From three sources, scanned each cycle: 1) Reddit threads where people describe a real friction in their own words, 2) podcasts and talks of founders young builders trust (Nikhil Kamath, Aman Gupta, Ankur Warikoo, Raj Shamani, Andrej Karpathy, Greg Isenberg), and 3) a continuous 1,000+ source scan covering forums, app store reviews, regulator filings, and field interviews.

Is Real Problem AI free?

Yes. Browsing every problem, opening every score breakdown, raising your hand on a co-founder match, and the founder vault are all free. There is no paywall.

How is each problem scored?

Four axes, each 1-10, weighted: Problem Severity (30%), AI Feasibility (25%), Market Signal (25%), Competition Gap (20%). Weighted average is the Opportunity Score on each card. Only problems clearing 7.0+ make the live list.

Why is my employer's 401(k) menu basically Greek?

401(k) fund menus are full of look-alike tickers; people pick the default and bleed 1%+ in fees a year.

Category: FinTech · Trend: LLM · Opportunity score: 7.5 / 10

What is the “Why is my employer's 401(k) menu basically Greek?” problem in 2026?

401(k) fund menus are full of look-alike tickers; people pick the default and bleed 1%+ in fees a year.

Who has this problem?

White-collar W-2 employees, especially first-jobbers and job-switchers.

Recorded source context

Dataset source note: Vanguard has 17 funds in my 401k. I picked the one with the cool name.

This note may summarize the referenced material rather than quote it verbatim. Source label: r/personalfinance, r/Bogleheads, r/FinancialIndependence..

Existing players in this space

Blooom (shut down)
Pontera
Capitalize (rollovers only)

What existing players are missing

No consumer tool reads a screenshot of your 401(k) menu and gives a one-page "buy these in this ratio" plan with fee math, target-date alternatives, and vesting context.

How Real Problem AI scores this opportunity

Aggregate score: 7.5 / 10. Four-axis rubric:

Problem severity: 6 / 10
AI feasibility today: 8 / 10
Market signal: 8 / 10
Competition gap: 8 / 10

How to build a solution: stack hints

Vision LLM to parse benefits portal screenshots
Morningstar/Lipper expense-ratio lookup
LLM allocation engine with fiduciary disclaimers
Quarterly rebalance reminder via email