What is Real Problem AI?

Real Problem AI is a curated directory of 200+ 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 200+ 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 can't I check an EV battery warranty status before I buy used?

OEM EV battery warranties are 8 years / 100,000 miles, transferable, but no public lookup confirms current status. Used-EV buyers buy blind.

Category: Automotive & Mobility · Trend: Marketplaces · Opportunity score: 7.5 / 10

What is the “Why can't I check an EV battery warranty status before I buy used?” problem in 2026?

OEM EV battery warranties are 8 years / 100,000 miles, transferable, but no public lookup confirms current status. Used-EV buyers buy blind.

Who has this problem?

Used-EV buyers, especially in the UK, Ireland and California where used-EV volume is now meaningful.

Evidence this problem is real

“Bought a 2023 Hyundai Ioniq 5 with 38,000 miles. Found out three months later the previous owner had voided the battery warranty by skipping the 25,000-mile inspection.”

Sourced from Manufacturer warranty terms (Tesla, VW, Hyundai, Kia, BMW), r/electricvehicles used-EV buyer threads 2026.

Existing players in this space

OEM dealer service histories — Per-brand, not searchable
Carfax / Autocheck — Don't surface EV-specific warranty status

What existing players are missing

A VIN-based EV warranty status checker: pulls OEM service records, confirms warranty validity, flags any voiding maintenance gaps. Free for consumers, dealer-paid SaaS for the trade.

How Real Problem AI scores this opportunity

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

Problem severity: 7 / 10
AI feasibility today: 7 / 10
Market signal: 8 / 10
Competition gap: 8 / 10

How to build a solution: stack hints

OEM API or dealer-portal scraping
VIN decoder + warranty term database
Maintenance-gap detection
Consumer + dealer UI