I Asked Google Gemini To Come Up With Business Ideas Not Found Elsewhere; I Got Blown Away

🌈 Abstract

The article discusses the concept of "new ideas" and how they are often not entirely new, but rather a combination or iteration of existing ideas. It highlights the importance of leveraging existing knowledge and ideas, rather than solely focusing on creating something completely novel. The article also explores how AI can be used to generate unique business ideas by iterating on existing concepts.

🙋 Q&A

[01] The Limitations of Predicting the Future

1. What was Charles H. Duell's prediction in 1889, and how did history prove him wrong? Charles H. Duell, a former U.S. commissioner, predicted in 1889 that "Everything that can be invented has been invented." However, history has proven him wrong, as many significant inventions, such as the airplane, the internet, Einstein's relativity theories, computers, phones, blockchain, and AI, have been created since then.

2. Why does the author believe that the best business ideas have not yet been discovered? The author believes that the best business ideas have not yet been discovered because:

• Humans have boundless possibilities as a species
• With the rapid pace of information change in the modern age, the only limit to coming up with ideas is how quickly and effectively we can process information, which can be improved with AI

3. How does the author's view on "new ideas" differ from the common perception? The author argues that the common perception of "new ideas" as standalone, unprecedented concepts is an illusion. Instead, the author suggests that all ideas are derived from and built upon existing ideas, and that the key is to leverage and iterate on these existing ideas, rather than solely focusing on creating something completely new.

[02] AI-Generated Business Ideas

1. What were the two unique business ideas generated by the AI assistant Gemini? The two unique business ideas generated by Gemini were:

1. An "AI-Powered Personalized Nostalgia Engine" that uses AI to curate personalized nostalgic content for users and monetizes it through targeted advertising and emotional well-being products.
2. An "AI-powered 'Future You' Simulator" that uses AI to create personalized simulations of the user's potential future based on their current choices and goals.

2. How did the author evaluate the uniqueness of these ideas? The author researched existing similar concepts and found that while there were some existing programs and websites that offered nostalgic content or future simulations, the key differentiating factor of Gemini's ideas was the level of personalization and depth of analysis they offered, which made them unique.

3. What key insight did the author gain about the process of generating new ideas? The author realized that rather than trying to generate completely new ideas from scratch, the AI assistant Gemini relied on iterating and combining existing ideas in unique ways. This led the author to conclude that the key to generating new ideas is not to obsess over "newness," but rather to leverage and build upon the wealth of existing ideas and knowledge.

[03] The Importance of Iterating on Existing Ideas

1. What quote from Mark Twain does the author use to illustrate the concept of idea iteration? The author cites a quote from Mark Twain: "There is no such thing as a new idea. It is impossible. We simply take a lot of old ideas and put them into a sort of mental kaleidoscope. We give them a turn and they make new and curious combinations."

2. How does the author explain the mathematical concept of idea combinations? The author explains that as the number of ideas increases, the possible combinations and permutations of those ideas also grow exponentially. For example, there are only 2 ways to reshuffle 2 items, but 6 ways to reshuffle 3 items, and over 3 million ways to reshuffle 10 items.

3. How does the author suggest using AI to leverage the power of idea iteration? The author suggests using a prompt template to leverage AI in the idea generation process: "[existing idea] + [asking AI for ways to make it unique]". This allows the AI to iterate on existing ideas and come up with unique variations, which the author found to be more effective than trying to generate completely new ideas from scratch.