I Asked AI “What’s a Profitable Niche?” and It Built a Playable Demo Video for Me Overnight.

I often brainstorm new ways to monetize my skills outside of my main job. But starting with market research, then planning, then building a prototype… it always feels like a heavy lift. So recently, I decided to use AI as a sounding board. Honestly, I didn’t expect much. It started late one night when I, in a burst of sleep-deprived inspiration, threw out a very vague question: “What’s a profitable blue ocean idea?”

我经常构思在主业之外利用技能变现的新方法。但从市场调研开始，到规划，再到构建原型……这总感觉是一项沉重的负担。因此最近，我决定把人工智能当作一个交流对象。老实说，我没抱太大期望。那天深夜，我在睡眠不足的灵感迸发下，抛出了一个非常模糊的问题：“有什么赚钱的蓝海创意吗？”

AI-Driven Brainstorming and Prototyping. The AI’s initial answers were predictably generic: “blogging,” “affiliate marketing,” “selling skills.” That wasn’t going anywhere, so I gave it a bit more context about my situation: I’m an engineer, so I can build systems. I can handle basic video editing tools. But I don’t want to show my face or use my voice. I want to avoid continuous content creation. Adding these conditions made the AI’s suggestions more specific. A direction for “one-off digital content” started to emerge.

人工智能驱动的头脑风暴与原型设计。AI 最初的回答不出所料，非常笼统：“写博客”、“联盟营销”、“出售技能”。这根本行不通，所以我向它提供了更多关于我个人情况的背景信息：我是一名工程师，所以我可以构建系统。我能处理基本的视频编辑工具。但我不想露脸，也不想使用自己的声音。我想避免持续的内容创作。加上这些条件后，AI 的建议变得更加具体了。“一次性数字内容”的方向开始显现。

After a few more exchanges, the AI finally proposed a “cooperative mystery game where the organizer just plays a video” as the core idea. The concept: participants team up to solve a mystery at events like wedding parties or company get-togethers. The selling point is ease of use for the organizer, who just projects a dedicated video. Hmm, that’s a one-time purchase, no inventory. Not bad. “Sounds interesting,” I replied. The AI then asked, “Shall we proceed with this plan?” It was late, so I responded almost on autopilot: “Let’s do it. I’m going to bed, so do what you can.” Then I closed my laptop.

经过几次交流，AI 最终提出了一个核心创意：“一种组织者只需播放视频的合作解谜游戏”。概念是：参与者在婚礼派对或公司聚会等活动中组队解开谜题。卖点在于对组织者来说非常简单，只需投影一段专门的视频即可。嗯，这是一次性购买，没有库存。还不错。“听起来很有趣，”我回复道。AI 随后问：“我们要推进这个计划吗？”当时很晚了，我几乎是下意识地回答：“干吧。我要去睡觉了，你看着办吧。”然后我合上了笔记本电脑。

The Result: A Playable MVP. The next morning, I checked the AI’s notifications and was genuinely surprised. Overnight, it had built a complete, truly playable Minimum Viable Product. The generated files included: A 3-minute demo video: “The Vanished Toastmaster’s Speech”, Answer sheet (PDF), A ZIP file containing a playtest guide and the above files. Playing the video, it clearly narrated the incident in Japanese, displayed a consultation timer during the puzzle-solving parts, and even included an answer reveal section at the end. Simple background music and captions were present, making it almost usable as-is for an event.

结果：一个可玩的最小可行性产品（MVP）。第二天早上，我查看了 AI 的通知，感到非常惊讶。一夜之间，它构建了一个完整且真正可玩的最小可行性产品。生成的文件包括：一段 3 分钟的演示视频《消失的祝酒词》、答题纸（PDF）、以及包含测试指南和上述文件的 ZIP 压缩包。播放视频时，它用日语清晰地讲述了事件经过，在解谜环节显示了讨论计时器，甚至在最后包含了答案揭晓部分。简单的背景音乐和字幕一应俱全，几乎可以直接用于活动。

What surprised me even more was that it didn’t stop there. Draft for a sales page, Draft for SNS posts to attract customers, Template for handling customer inquiries. These were also provided. From ideation to prototype development, and even a rough sales strategy – the AI had sprinted through it all in one night. I hadn’t expected such concrete output just by vaguely saying “do what you can” before bed.

更让我惊讶的是，它并没有就此止步。它还提供了销售页面草稿、用于吸引客户的社交媒体帖子草稿，以及处理客户咨询的模板。从构思到原型开发，甚至到粗略的销售策略，AI 在一夜之间全部完成了。我没想到仅仅在睡前模糊地说了一句“你看着办”，就能得到如此具体的产出。

The Remaining Work: Where Humans Come In. Of course, what the AI produced isn’t perfect. The video is just a demo, and it needs quality improvements to be sold as a product. There are many areas I’d want to refine: BGM selection, caption design, narration nuances, etc. Also, this is just the first scenario. To develop it into a product, I’d need to produce multiple scenarios. While AI could assist with scenario creation, checking for fun factor and logical consistency ultimately falls to a human. Setting up the sales page, integrating payment systems, and actual marketing. Even with AI-generated drafts, executing these falls to me. Even if AI handles 80% of the tedious work, the final 20% of refinement and getting it out into the world still requires human touch.

剩余工作：人类的用武之地。当然，AI 的产出并不完美。视频只是一个演示，作为产品销售还需要提升质量。有很多地方我想优化：背景音乐选择、字幕设计、旁白细微差别等。此外，这只是第一个剧本。要将其开发成产品，我需要制作多个剧本。虽然 AI 可以辅助剧本创作，但检查趣味性和逻辑一致性最终还是得靠人。设置销售页面、集成支付系统以及实际的市场营销，即使有 AI 生成的草稿，执行这些工作依然得靠我。即便 AI 处理了 80% 的繁琐工作，最后 20% 的打磨和将其推向市场仍需要人类的参与。

A Takeaway for Readers. What I learned from this experience is that brainstorming with AI can start with just “throwing out a rough idea.” From there, through dialogue, communicating your skills and constraints will significantly improve the accuracy of its suggestions. If you’re looking for new ideas, try asking AI this: “Can you create the simplest possible prototype (MVP) for (your idea)?” Instead of just idea documents or text, try getting it to create “something dynamic” like a video or a tool, as it did for me. This transforms an idea you’ve only considered in your head into a concrete form, making your next steps a lot clearer.

给读者的启示。我从这次经历中学到的是，与 AI 进行头脑风暴可以从“抛出一个粗略的想法”开始。在此基础上，通过对话交流你的技能和限制条件，将显著提高其建议的准确性。如果你正在寻找新点子，试着这样问 AI：“你能为（你的想法）创建一个最简单的原型（MVP）吗？”不要只局限于创意文档或文本，试着让它像为我做的那样，去创建“动态的东西”，比如视频或工具。这会将你脑海中构思的想法转化为具体形式，让你的下一步行动变得清晰得多。