Introduction: Getting Started#

The Evolution of AI Technology and the Potential of One-Person Startups#

The development of artificial intelligence (AI) technology in modern society is truly remarkable. The AI field, which had been somewhat stagnant until the early 2000s, broke through barriers when deep learning technology advanced in 2006. In 2016, it began receiving worldwide attention when Lee Sedol, a 9-dan professional Go player, was defeated by AlphaGo. Then in 2020, OpenAI’s release of ChatGPT sent shockwaves around the world and completely transformed the AI industry landscape. I believe there is no disagreement that AI is currently the hottest term in technology.

As AI models continue to improve in capability, the range of tasks that can be accomplished with AI is becoming increasingly diverse. In the past, you needed to enter specific search keywords to find the information you wanted. Now, even if you can’t think of the right keywords, you can obtain the desired information simply by conveying the context of what you’re looking for, just like having a conversation with another person. Furthermore, AI models are getting better at recognizing and generating images, videos, and audio, leading to the continuous emergence of services that were previously impossible to attempt.

As AI technology advances, I believe the nature of companies will gradually change as well. Companies with already stabilized products will minimize the workforce needed for product maintenance and increase internal startups or task force teams for expansion in various directions. For startups developing products from scratch, rather than building organizational structures by functional area, there will be more attempts to launch initial products with minimal staffing using AI technology. The term “one-person startup” mentioned in this book’s title expresses the idea that it is possible to launch an initial product and scale it to a certain level with minimal personnel.

In this context, I began researching how AI technology can be applied to running a startup. I am an application developer, currently developing applications built on AI, improving work efficiency using AI, and optimizing company operations. Based on these practical experiences, I decided to write this book to share insights on how to practically apply AI technology to startups. The content of this book is organized by a developer who professionally uses AI in their work, based on real-world experience. I have included in this book the key AI concepts you need to know, the major services and tools you can utilize, and experiences from researching and practically applying the technical preparations needed for executing a startup.

This book is written by a developer and describes how to practically utilize AI technology, so it is intended for developers or those with some technical understanding of development. If you understand the concepts of server-client architecture and APIs, I believe the content of this book can be helpful in your startup journey.