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 tell which CarMax appraisal offer is actually competitive without driving to four dealers?

Sellers comparing CarMax, Carvana, and dealer trade-in offers have no way to normalize them against real auction comps and current Manheim data.

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

What is the “Why can't I tell which CarMax appraisal offer is actually competitive without driving to four dealers?” problem in 2026?

Sellers comparing CarMax, Carvana, and dealer trade-in offers have no way to normalize them against real auction comps and current Manheim data.

Who has this problem?

Private seller trading in a 3 to 7 year old vehicle.

Evidence this problem is real

“CarMax offered 18k, the Toyota dealer said 22k as trade, and Carvana is at 19,500. None of them will tell me how they got the number and I do not know which is the actual fair price.”

Sourced from r/cars threads comparing CarMax vs dealer trade-in offers.

Existing players in this space

KBB Instant Cash Offer — Single offer, opaque methodology.
CarGurus IMV — Retail price estimate, not trade-in.

What existing players are missing

Upload all three offers plus photos, get a transparent breakdown against Manheim MMR comps, recon cost estimate, and a recommended walk-away number.

How Real Problem AI scores this opportunity

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

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

How to build a solution: stack hints

Claude vision for damage photo scan
Manheim MMR API
Next.js
Postgres