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 find a used EV with verified battery health before I buy?

Used-EV buyers in 2026 cannot get a trusted, vendor-neutral battery state-of-health report. Dealers shrug. Sellers cherry-pick screenshots. Buyers pay full price for unknown range.

Category: Automotive & Mobility · Trend: Marketplaces · Opportunity score: 8.0 / 10

What is the “Why can't I find a used EV with verified battery health before I buy?” problem in 2026?

Used-EV buyers in 2026 cannot get a trusted, vendor-neutral battery state-of-health report. Dealers shrug. Sellers cherry-pick screenshots. Buyers pay full price for unknown range.

Who has this problem?

Used-EV buyers in markets where EV share is now meaningful (UK, Ireland, California, Norway, Netherlands, China).

Evidence this problem is real

“Test drove a 2022 Model 3. Dealer said battery is fine. I bought, then learned the SoH was 78%. That is 60 fewer real-world miles than advertised.”

Sourced from Recurrent Auto and ev-database.org data, May 2026 used-EV buyer threads on r/electricvehicles and r/UK.

Existing players in this space

Recurrent Auto — US-focused, dealer-partner model
Cap HPI BatteryAssure — UK trade-only
OEM dealer reports — Conflict of interest

What existing players are missing

A consumer-paid, OEM-neutral battery health attestation tied to VIN. Run via OBD-II dongle in 10 minutes at any garage. Cryptographic certificate the buyer holds and can resell with the car.

How Real Problem AI scores this opportunity

Aggregate score: 8.0 / 10. Four-axis rubric:

Problem severity: 8 / 10
AI feasibility today: 8 / 10
Market signal: 9 / 10
Competition gap: 7 / 10

How to build a solution: stack hints

OBD-II dongle with multi-OEM protocol coverage
Cloud SoH estimator (impedance + cycle inference)
Cryptographic certificate issuance
Marketplace plug-ins (Autotrader, eBay Motors, DoneDeal)