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 my insurance claim sit for three weeks while the adjuster "reviews photos"?

After a fender-bender, drivers upload photos to Geico/Progressive/State Farm apps and then wait 7-21 days for an estimate while their car sits in a body shop limbo.

Category: Automotive & Mobility · Trend: Vision · Opportunity score: 8.7 / 10

What is the “Why does my insurance claim sit for three weeks while the adjuster "reviews photos"?” problem in 2026?

After a fender-bender, drivers upload photos to Geico/Progressive/State Farm apps and then wait 7-21 days for an estimate while their car sits in a body shop limbo.

Who has this problem?

Anyone who's been in a minor collision in the last decade.

Evidence this problem is real

“Submitted 14 photos via the Geico app on Day 1. Day 18 the adjuster called asking for the same photos 'in better lighting'. Rental ran out Day 14.”

Sourced from App Store 1-star reviews of Geico, Progressive, State Farm; r/Insurance.

Existing players in this space

Tractable
CCC Intelligent Solutions
Mitchell (all sold to insurers
not consumers); Snapsheet

What existing players are missing

Consumer-side claim agent: scan damage with phone, get an instant repair-cost estimate using the same CV models insurers use, then auto-package the claim to the carrier in their preferred format and chase the adjuster on a cadence.

How Real Problem AI scores this opportunity

Aggregate score: 8.7 / 10. Four-axis rubric:

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

How to build a solution: stack hints

Phone-based vehicle damage CV (fine-tuned on collision datasets)
Audatex/CCC parts-price feed
Carrier-specific claim packaging templates
Email/voice follow-up agent