I was talking with an awesome YC founder yesterday. Right before our call, another investor asked him, “What if ChatGPT does it?” This is the new “What if Google does it?”

For most companies, that question is irrelevant. Here’s an example…

ChatGPT Stinks at Teaching Portuguese

I’m trying to learn Portuguese. It’s fun, but I don’t have anyone to practice with.

So I pulled up ChatGPT Advanced Voice. I gave it very detailed instructions:

“I want to have a conversation with you in Portuguese. I’ll speak to you in Portuguese, and you should respond in the same language. After the conversation is done, I want you to go through my mistakes in English and explain to me what I did wrong.”

Okay, let’s get started…

At first, ChatGPT did a great job. I had a hard time coming up with something to talk about, so I just started talking about my week, and the conversation went smoothly at first.

Then, ChatGPT started interrupting me. I would try to speak, but we kept talking over each other, then halting.

Eventually, ChatGPT just quit the dialogue. Finally, it gave me a list of my mistakes, but the explanations weren’t great. I didn’t really understand what I’d said incorrectly.

I never tried to speak Portuguese with ChatGPT again.

A Specialized App Gives a Better Experience

The base model gave me a poor experience for this specialized task. But what if we compare it to Duolingo Max, a tool that’s designed for AI conversations in foreign languages?

Duolingo Max understands what I’m trying to do. I don’t have to tell it to speak Portuguese…it already knows I’m in the Portuguese course.

It also has a topic ready for me, like practicing ordering food in a restaurant. This is great because coming up with something to talk about can be tough!

Duolingo Max doesn’t interrupt you. And you don’t need to read it elaborate instructions, which is a huge waste of time.

Max shows how a specialized tool beats a base model for many complex tasks. And as the base model gets better, Max gets more better and more valuable, not less.

Wrap-Up

If the base model can do the job well, maybe you don’t need a specialized app. But in the case of Portuguese conversation, using the base model is clunky and frustrating. So, Duolingo Max is very helpful.

What’s true for learning Portuguese is true for 1000 specialized jobs. ChatGPT is not going to be a good paralegal, accountant, or SAT tutor all on its own.

So if an investor asks you “What if ChatGPT does it?”, here’s what you can say…

ChatGPT is a general purpose tool. You’re the specialized tool that’s designed to do a very particular job better than anyone else.

ChatGPT is the electricity. You’re the power drill that uses the electricity.

And you need both to build a house.

More on tech:

The Coolest Startups from YC W25: Part 2

Inside an Investor’s Morning: 4 Deals, 4 Passes

Is Biotech Having its ChatGPT Moment?

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