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 does a €3 EU duty per customs item need HS codes my catalog never had?

Since the EU's flat duty on low-value parcels started, every distinct HS code and origin in an order is charged separately, carriers bill merchants after delivery or customers refuse parcels, and most small stores never filled in HS code or country of origin on their variants.

Category: LegalTech & Compliance · Trend: LLM · Opportunity score: 7.8 / 10

What is the “Why does a €3 EU duty per customs item need HS codes my catalog never had?” problem in 2026?

Who has this problem?

Non-EU small online sellers shipping low-value parcels to EU customers.

Recorded source context

Dataset source note: every parcel under €150 shipped from non-EU origin to an EU destination owes a flat €3 customs duty per “customs item”

This note may summarize the referenced material rather than quote it verbatim. Source label: Shopify Community thread on handling the EU €3 customs duty rule, 23 September 2026, 12 posts, following earlier merchant threads on the same levy. (primary source).

Existing players in this space

Zonos: Landed cost and duty calculation, priced and built for larger cross-border sellers.
Avalara cross-border: HS classification and duty tools, enterprise-oriented.
Shopify Markets duties: Collects duties in some setups, but relies on HS codes and origin the merchant has not filled in.

What existing players are missing

A catalog pass that classifies every variant's HS code and country of origin from titles, descriptions and supplier data with a confidence score, then shows per order how many customs items the EU duty will count before checkout.

How Real Problem AI scores this opportunity

Aggregate score: 7.8 / 10. Four-axis rubric:

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

How to build a solution: stack hints

LLM HS code classification
Supplier data and invoice parsing
Shopify Admin API bulk metafield updates
Checkout duty estimator