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 does paying my international contractors still cost 7% in 2026?

Small businesses paying contractors abroad lose 5-8% to FX margin and wire fees. Wise is better but still not optimised for recurring same-recipient flows.

Category: FinTech · Trend: Agents · Opportunity score: 7.5 / 10

What is the “Why does paying my international contractors still cost 7% in 2026?” problem in 2026?

Small businesses paying contractors abroad lose 5-8% to FX margin and wire fees. Wise is better but still not optimised for recurring same-recipient flows.

Who has this problem?

Solo and SMB founders paying overseas contractors monthly.

Evidence this problem is real

“Sending $4,000 to my designer in Bali. Wise quoted $98 in fees plus a $42 FX margin. That is $140 to move money once.”

Sourced from Indie Hackers monthly cost benchmark threads 2026, IMF Bank for International Settlements remittance reports.

Existing players in this space

Wise Business — Best in class but not optimised for recurrence
Remitly — Consumer-first
Deel — Bundles payroll with fees

What existing players are missing

A subscription-style international-payments product: pay once monthly to lock the FX rate for an entire year of same-recipient transfers, with the savings shared between the platform and the user.

How Real Problem AI scores this opportunity

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

Problem severity: 7 / 10
AI feasibility today: 8 / 10
Market signal: 9 / 10
Competition gap: 6 / 10

How to build a solution: stack hints

Multi-rail routing (Wise, Mercury, Bridge)
FX hedging via Currencycloud or Hedgeguard
Recurring-recipient relationship model
Tax + invoice automation