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Essays - Benedict Evans · Benedict Evans
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About Essays - Benedict EvansWe’ve had ChatGPT for 18 months, but what’s it for? What are the use-cases? Why isn’t it useful for everyone, right now? Do Large Language Models become universal tools that can do ‘any’ task, or do we wrap them in single-purpose apps, and build thousands of new companies around that?
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Don’t build an AI product around the assumption that a general-purpose model is the product. Start with a specific job, user, and workflow, then determine whether AI should be the interface, an embedded capability, or invisible infrastructure.
The key strategic uncertainty is not just what language models can do, but how that capability becomes reliably useful. Founders who narrow the problem can compete through workflow design, context, and distribution rather than relying on broad model capability alone.
Choose one target user and ask: What recurring task is painful enough to justify a dedicated product, and what would AI need—context, guardrails, integrations, or human review—to complete it reliably?
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