Anyone else remember when Mobile-first became a thing in web development? If you’re a business owner, you probably had someone on your team or a web agency reach out to pitch you on following this trend for your company’s website.
I myself was a wee marketing specialist, learning the ropes of a popular website builder that had just introduced “mobile-friendly” editing tools to make it “easy” to have as beautiful a website on your phone as on your desktop.
Working at an eCommerce company that was building retail sites for huge brands, I also had the opportunity to learn from some of our front-end devs how they were managing this using the newest frameworks and UI tools to make online shopping a breeze on your phone.
It was an absolute evolution in online behaviour - more people were using their phones to browse than their computers. So, a bunch of developers set to the monumental task of taking a universe of landscape style webpage designs and cramming them to fit vertical screens. And then many of those same developers gave up and said “screw it. Let’s start from scratch.” You may have had a developer tell you this and really wondered if they knew what they were doing.
To me, this was a moment of genius - instead of trying to retrofit old designs into new technology, they worked on mobile-first webpages and web applications, ensuring content was displayed in fluid or collapsible containers that would appear nicely both at a desk and out in the world.
Now, as an average consumer, but also someone trying to build an AI company because I love AI, I am imploring business leaders of all types to stop trying to cram AI into old products. Nobody wants or needs this. Instead, I want you to only use AI in making a product if said product is AI-first.
But everyone says we need to start building with AI, or we’ll be left behind??
I mean, I guess? Everyone has to modernize at some point, but there are still plenty of professions in the world that are very un-modern. Even ones that don’t use electricity. They still exist. The world is still turning. Some things are always going to have some use.
For example, I truly don’t think fridges are ever going to go out of fashion. Especially good quality, long lasting ones. However, no normal person wants a fridge with AI in it. Mega rich people, who don’t even cook at home, and just want to brag about their expensive appliances, sure. But a middle class mom trying to make healthy and tasty dinners for her family on a budget? She so does not have time for that.
Ok but, I really want to sell a product with AI as a feature, because I think it’s cool
I get that! Some people are just moved by technology. Our brains are wired to get a dopamine hit when you do something new. I am one of those people.
What you should be doing, therefore, is creating something new. Figure out what that aforementioned mom (or whoever you want to help) is actually missing in her life, that could actually be solved by AI, and build it.
I love, for example, the Lego scanner app. It can actually help people of all ages who either play with Lego or live in a Lego-filled house to count and sort what pieces they have. The concept is really AI-first, because building an algorithm to do the same thing would be a maddening endeavor for even the most senior of programmers. This is for a worldwide, hugely successful brand. What about our small, local makers?
Small businesses can do this, too.
Maybe you sell custom furniture. An AI app could help a customer “build” a piece using your personal design style, based on previous creations, and see if it fits in their space. It could even help automatically price it out so both you and the customer know upfront whether it’s the right fit, saving everyone time and avoiding an awkward conversation three emails in.
If you have a product or service that you have wanted to be able to offer virtually, AI is a great way to do that. It can extend your reach, scale your time (by offering a “virtual” service at a cheaper cost than a premium “in-person” version) or fundamentally change your product in a way that it’s available everywhere. It’s really great when it allows your product or service to arrive through a phone or computer experience in a user-friendly way. It should also be really clear to the user that it is PRIMARILY AI and not something that already exists + an AI feature some people won’t want. The AI should be the point.
What if my business sells through retail channels?
I see AI as being less and less useful in consumer goods because of 2 things:
- It’s creepy. Especially when you start putting it in kids’ toys. And…
- There are already very few examples where more digital components have made consumer goods better. They are instead more confusing, more likely to break down, and more expensive.
AI in consumer goods is a fun gimmick that may increase a large brand’s stock projections for a quarter or two. But for small businesses, trying to build something that matters to their customers or community, AI should only be used for their end product or service delivery if AI is necessary to solve a problem — not as an “add-on” to an existing solution. Like in my previous “custom furniture” example - but it’s really going to shine in cases that are already very personalized, as opposed to mass-manufactured or otherwise non-customized goods.
So, if you’re feeling the pressure right now to add AI to an existing product or service, I want you to resist. Think of a way to use it to create a better customer experience from the back-end, instead. As one idea, you could use it for your quality assurance to help catch flaws on your production line. This would truly benefit the customer, and your own production costs. But the customer doesn’t need to see the AI to benefit from it.
A caveat on AI in the physical world
I do not see the value of adding AI to a Tickle-Me-Elmo or similar children’s toy. Same for most home appliances. I do however see the use for AI in certain robotics. A cool example from the world of AI in Luxembourg would be R3 Robotics. They have industrialized a way to recycle lithium ion batteries using robotics and AI, keeping humans at a safe distance from a manual, real world process that is rife with physical risk. Again, we see an AI-first process where the existence of the service would not work without AI.
These use cases tend to have higher relevancy in much more technical industries: medicine, engineering, space, robotics - the list goes on.
AI-first as a best practice
This analogy of AI-first to mobile-first only works if there are examples of companies who have eschewed the seeming “mandate” of SaaS, eCommerce, social media, and other types of web apps to make every part of their offering available on your smartphone.
Funnily enough, one of those examples is an AI-first business: Softr. This German company lets you more or less “vibe-code” an app. I like it for MVP projects because it helps you get off the ground quickly (it handles password management, log in and sign up logic, etc). However, they will not let you use their CMS from mobile, because there would be no user-friendly way to make that happen. It goes to show that you can refuse to partake in a technological “norm” if you are invested in protecting your product’s quality and reputation, and you believe following that norm would go against those values.
So, I call on entrepreneurs to think in an AI-first way, meaning you only use AI if your product or service needs it to be successful. Mobile-first was important in a lot of verticals, but not all of them. AI will be the same.
If you have an idea for a product or service that you’ve never known how to get off the ground, and AI could be the key to launching it, go ahead. Try. Right now is your opportunity to create it. Use it to grow your existing client base, or find a whole new one. If you don’t know where to start, reach out to me.