Why Some AI Ideas End Up in the Graveyard

What is AI Graveyard?

The AI Graveyard is a term used to refer to a list or collection of artificial intelligence projects and startups that have failed, been discontinued, or abandoned. These projects often make it to the AI Graveyard due to various reasons such as lack of funding, poor market fit, technological challenges, competition, or failure to scale.

The concept of an AI Graveyard serves as a reminder of the challenges and risks associated with developing and commercializing AI technologies. It can also provide valuable lessons and insights for future AI projects by analyzing why these past initiatives did not succeed.

Some notable examples of AI projects that have ended up in the AI Graveyard include Google Glass (in its original form), Microsoft's Tay chatbot, and many AI startups that couldn't sustain their business models or achieve significant market traction.

How many of them?

As of June 2024, this list includes a total of 738 discontinued or defunct projects, distributed across specific domains as follows:

- Chatbots and AI writing tools (text-to-text applications): 271 projects, approximately 37%

- AI art and AI design tools (text-to-image applications): 216 projects, approximately 29%

- AI voice and AI video tools (text-to-audio/video applications): 73 projects, approximately 10%

- Other AI tools, including AI coding tools and SEO optimization tools: approximately 33%

Why were they "Dead"?

The application value is limited and lacks long-term practical utility. Simple repackaged applications, such as BibleGPT and AI pick-up line generators, are likely to face decreasing competitive barriers as the capabilities of large language models continue to advance and become more widely accessible.

These products generally offer more entertainment value than practical functionality and are often categorized as entertainment products rather than utilitarian tools. While they may capture users' curiosity in the short term, they often lack sustainable practical utility.

From a monetization perspective, although these applications might generate revenue through advertising or one-time purchases, achieving long-term user retention and sustainable profitability is challenging. Addressing how to maintain user engagement and provide continuous value is a critical issue that these applications must resolve.

What can we learn from AI Graveyard?

Some projects fail due to overestimating the current capabilities of AI technology. It is important to align project goals with what is technologically feasible. On the other hand, the AI field is highly competitive. Projects need to have a clear differentiation from competitors to stand out and attract users. However, attracting users initially is not enough; maintaining user engagement and retention is a significant challenge. Projects must provide ongoing value to keep users interested.

In the development of the AI industry, it is essential to recognize that products must embody innovation and improvement, as well as public trust. By learning from past mistakes, the industry can continuously refine methodologies, technologies, and approaches. Moreover, by understanding previous ethical missteps, companies can strive to build more trustworthy AI systems, thereby enhancing public confidence in AI technology. By leveraging the insights and lessons from the AI Graveyard, the industry can enhance its understanding, reduce failure rates, and foster a more robust, innovative, and sustainable AI ecosystem.

While we anticipate the advancement of AI, it is imperative to learn from the lessons of the AI Graveyard to prevent our products from becoming part of it. Nonetheless, the AI Graveyard serves an alternative marketing function. By showcasing AI projects that are no longer updated or have been abandoned, it provides valuable insights and examples for others. This collective repository helps guide product development, allowing others to avoid common pitfalls and make informed improvements. In this regard, the value of the AI Graveyard has actually increased, serving both as a monument and a recommendation platform. This format is difficult for other tool repositories to emulate, as it employs an ironic theme to attract user engagement. By doing so, it not only re-promotes these abandoned AI projects (regardless of their current usability) but also encourages users who are considering abandoning their own AI products to submit them as a form of commemoration.