Put A Sock In It – The AI Application for a Perfect Stocking Filler!
The two big issues with AI at the moment, particularly with Generative AI, are the identification of valuable – genuinely valuable – use cases, and how Gen AI can benefit humans, either by improving their lives, or by reducing drudgery. So, just in time for Christmas, I think I’ve found the perfect scenario, that delivers on both. The Odd Sock Matcher. You’re welcome.
(Sock) Matching Patterns
This morning, my wife told me I had to move the pile of socks, paired and odd, from where they have built up – one might almost say coagulated – over time. She said it in such a way that brooked no argument. She also implied that someone had to match all the odd socks, whilst also making clear that that someone was not going to be her.
Fortunately for me, I was in a “get up and go” sort of mood. So, I actually looked forward to a quick stint of pattern matching. For that’s what sock pairing is. And so, it occurred to me that actually, this was just the same as a piece of analytics or trend analysis that I would typically do at work.
After 10 minutes, I’d done pretty well, and started to match socks of the same colour and size (who buys plain black socks?), based on feel of the cloth. I was pretty pleased with my output. At this point, another pile appeared, along with the phrase “given you’re doing so well…”, and, to be fair, a cup of tea. After a few more minutes, I concluded that there were no further matching patterns. You can see if you agree by looking at the photo above.
AI Socks It To A Dull Task
As I did this, I realised that this is a perfect opportunity for a labour-saving device or service via AI. For most people, and most scenarios, odd sock matching is the very definition of drudgery. It’s a task that gets put off, and put off, until it becomes too large to ignore. By which point, it’s even more daunting. It’s also something that humans have a relative limit on accuracy and concentration – 10 minutes, in my case – before boredom or brain fatigue kick in. Furthermore, socks are, broadly speaking, a standard shape, (with variations on a theme). So they can be fairly easily defined, identified and recognised. In other words, these are all classic signs of an AI application.
And, they clearly add value to people’s lives. How many of us would pay for a service to match odd socks? Just like that. The automatic vacuuming robot has transformed lives, why not the sock matching robot?
Unfortunately, it will need a bit of product development time, so won’t be ready as a Stocking Filler for this Christmas. But I’ll get working on it.