AI is supposed to be the thing that lets us build almost anything, as long as we have the right idea.
But what happens when you don’t have the right idea? What if you just keep building random stuff because you can?
Is that a waste of money, or do you learn something along the way?
I definitely learned something – I have no sense for business.
I’ve built countless apps and web projects, and I have yet to make any real money from them. I had the odd image sale on DeviantArt, but nothing I could retire on. Not enough to claim that I’ve made money with AI.
I also learned that early models and free models cannot always be trusted. I’ve had an API key exposed online while working with Claude, along with several mishaps involving accidentally deleted files while working on projects with ChatGPT.
Those are not small lessons. They cost time, money, and a fair bit of confidence.
So why am I still doing it?
Because it’s fun.
There is something genuinely satisfying about having some random problem on your Mac, asking AI to build a small app for it, and ending up with something that actually fits your workflow. Maybe it’s a niche problem that nobody else has bothered to solve. Now you can solve it yourself, exactly the way you want.
That is where AI feels most useful to me. Not necessarily in building the next billion-dollar company, but in removing small annoyances from everyday life. A tiny tool that saves you five minutes every day can be more valuable than another app nobody asked for.
Is it worth the money?
I still can’t answer that. Not yet.
Maybe one day I’ll build something that earns enough to justify all the subscriptions, API calls, and lost evenings. For now, I mostly have a growing collection of strange little apps, a better understanding of what can go wrong, and the satisfaction of making things that did not exist before.
That might not be a business.
But it is something.