During a private discussion about AI adoption rates, a friend asked a popular LLM about the feasibility of creating an espresso-style machine for making brandy, a new home appliance concept intended for mass-market consumers.
The model immediately returned a confident positive answer, along with sketches, explanations of the underlying principles, and a list of risks and challenges that would need to be addressed. After a few more interactions, it produced a business plan, a technical solution, a breakdown of tasks and budgets, and step-by-step instructions for a prototype, including a detailed bill of materials estimated between €640 and €700, excluding software and labor. It also generated a marketing plan, visual design elements, and a branding strategy. The model is now working on the software needed for the first prototype.
This brings up an important question: is this intelligence?
AI is already part of our everyday lives and will remain so, and there is no realistic path forward without it. However, I believe the current generation of LLMs is not the long-term solution many expect. In fact, many real use cases today look very similar to the example above.
Supporting this capability requires an enormous global infrastructure. Data centers are filled with GPUs and TPUs that consume huge amounts of energy while expanding the balance sheets of an entire industry.
To put this in perspective, the combined market capitalization of the 26 major tech megacaps is 34.23 trillion dollars, and the top ten alone account for 28.99 trillion dollars. As a comparison point, the estimated global GDP in 2024 was 110 trillion dollars.
This direction does not look sustainable, don't you agree?
Complete Bill of Materials:
Ingredient Tank
- Material: food-grade stainless steel or alcohol-resistant plastic
- Capacity: 5–10 liters
- Cost: ~€50
Fermentation Chamber
- Material: food-grade stainless steel
- Temperature control: heating element + thermostat (25–30°C)
pH and alcohol sensor
- Cost: ~€150
Distillation Unit
- Stainless steel boiler (5–10 liters)
- Electric heating element (1–2 kW)
- Thermostat for 78°C
- Cost: ~€200
Cooling Coil
- Material: copper or stainless steel
- Length: 2–3 meters
- Cold-water circuit (small pump)
- Cost: ~€80
Final Container
- Jar/bottle made of thick glass
- Cost: ~€10
Control Panel
- START button, LEDs, microcontroller (Arduino or similar)
- Cost: ~€50
Enclosure and Thermal Insulation
- Material: heat-resistant plastic + insulation
- Cost: ~€100
�� Estimated total cost for the prototype:
~€640 – €700 (without labor and software development)