Is ChatGPT becoming a commodity? A software engineer's buyer's guide to AI tools
Overwhelmed by AI subscriptions? Master a cost-effective framework: avoid annual plans, prioritize workflow, and use API keys to maximize developer ROI.
The AI landscape for software engineers is overwhelming nowadays. Every week brings a new benchmark winner. Keeping up with these releases feels like a full-time job. You might feel the need to manage five different subscriptions just to stay relevant in the industry.
There are two kinds of markets, and the research will determine which one AI is in the end:
In a winner-takes-all market. The gap between the best tool and the second-best tool is usually massive. This means you always want to be with the best player available.
Commodity market: The cheapest one that does the job wins. For example, electricity. You don’t care where it came from and who obtained it; the value is the same.
Because the market moves so fast, the best player often changes every six months. AI was behaving like a winner-takes-all where ChatGPT was king, but if all big players keep having these similar results, it will become a commodity like it’s happened in the last year.