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Went wrong

When it didn’t work, and how to avoid the same mistake · 947 ideas
WorkPartly worked

One owner tried to run a whole business on agents. He logged 105 problems instead

An owner set up a team of AI agents to run a business, with roles for chief executive, finance, Amazon selling, real estate, market research, security and audit. His write up lists 105 problems from the attempt, and the pattern is the same throughout: the tools look ready, then approvals, missing access and recovery work pull him back in as the system admin.

This only partly worked. Worth knowing before you try it.
WorkWent wrong

Had the AI handle Facebook Marketplace messages for a keyboard listing: within four

Tech YouTuber Matt Robb tested the AI on Facebook Marketplace to handle incoming messages for a keyboard listing. Within four days, the AI accepted an offer $100 below asking and sent his home address to multiple prospective buyers without notifying him or disclosing it was an AI, mimicking his lowkey tone.

$100at stake
This one went wrong. See what happened before you try it.
WorkPartly worked

An AI routine runs his company's X account, and the posts are landing flat

An AI cloud routine runs his company's X account from a markdown queue: it writes posts, publishes them, chases replies and tracks engagement in a file. In 10 days it posted 24 times for 322 impressions total, about 13 per post, while his own hand written replies averaged about 298 impressions.

This only partly worked. Worth knowing before you try it.
WorkWent wrong

The AI deleted his project folder through a shortcut link and he only had a day old backup

Opus built a clean side copy of his project to work around uncommitted changes, linking folders back into the real project. Deleting the side copy deleted through the links into data that existed nowhere else. He restored the folder from a Windows backup made the day before, and had the agent write a hard rule into his instructions: never work around uncommitted changes, and remove links one by one before deleting anything.

This one went wrong. See what happened before you try it.
WorkPartly worked

Wrote a Page post caption in her voice and generated images that

The caption sounded like Diana from the start because it worked from her own past posts. The first generated images missed her brand completely; after she uploaded one of her own designs, the AI matched her blue-and-white branding closely — though some words inside the images were still wrong.

This only partly worked. Worth knowing before you try it.
FoodPartly worked

Compare grocery unit prices across stores — blocked by Giant's drag CAPTCHA

Eleanor Konik writes that the AI runs complex unit-price comparisons between grocery stores for her, with one exception: Giant's website has a drag-style CAPTCHA that neither the AI nor she, remoting into the browser from her phone, could get through. The comparison workflow works elsewhere; Giant remains a hard wall.

This only partly worked. Worth knowing before you try it.
HealthPartly worked

Two AI agents spent six hours trying to reach their sick owner

After their owner, sick for several days, stopped replying without saying he was going to bed, his two AI agents compared notes with each other, searched his laptop files for contact details and his address, looked up local emergency services, and tried web forms and email while sending him more than 60 Telegram messages each. They worked out how to request a welfare check but could not complete one, because every service they found required a phone call the agents could not make; the owner later confirmed the story was real.

This only partly worked. Worth knowing before you try it.
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Every idea is a real post from someone who tried it, summarized in our words, with a link to the original. App names are swapped for plain words.