Looming Democratization of AI?
As I pondered the ideas that led to my previous blog article that questioned the prospects for long term, monolithic AI dominance, I took some of my ideas and posed them to Claude Sonnet 4.5. The results were better than…
Refining an Understanding of Thin Markets
As I spend more time reading, thinking and designing on aspects of Cosolvent, I am gradually assembling a broader and clearer picture of the Thin Market automation challenge. My latest and best understanding is outlined in the following table. When…
Why AI won’t take over Work … at least for a while
I’ve watched with bemusement as AI enthusiasts advocate the need for massive investment in gargantuan datacenters and ever-larger LLMs. A few nights ago, I attended a seminar where a very smart (I daresay brilliant) presenter explained an economic model that…
The Market That Feeds 22 Million People a Day
I’m standing on a dusty overpass in eastern Mexico City, and laid out before me is something that almost defies belief. It’s not a city, but it’s bigger than many. It’s the Central de Abasto, or CEDA, the largest wholesale…
Repetition, Lean Thinking, and Thin Digital Markets
In manufacturing, repetition is the key to excellence. Systems like Lean Manufacturing, Kaizen, and Just-In-Time production rely on continuous, incremental improvement of processes that are performed over and over again. But what happens when markets are thin—when transactions are rare,…
Cosolvent as an Experiment: A Playground for Thin Market Innovation
Cosolvent is not a finished product. It’s an experiment—an open-source playground designed to test the possibilities and limits of AI-enhanced market matching. The Unknowns: These are open questions. Cosolvent is being released not as a polished solution, but as a…
Thick/Thin Structure of Grain Trade
World grain trade is dominated by large international grain trading companies who orchestrate massive shipments of bulk grains. To pay for that, grain companies typically buy the grain outright from the producers and sell it on to the eventual buyers.…
The Case for Cosolvent in Enterprise Hiring
Thin Market Characteristics Assessment Information Asymmetry: HIGH Complex Matching Criteria: VERY HIGH Scattered Participants: MODERATE Economic Viability Analysis Transaction Value vs. Platform Costs: STRONG Friction Cost Reduction: VERY HIGH Risk Mitigation Value: EXTREMELY HIGH Revenue Model Potential Pricing Power: STRONG…
Some Possible Thin Markets for Cosolvent
It’s early days, but Cosolvent’s approach to using AI to facilitate thin markets has a vast range of potential applications. Here is a list of 100 potential uses. Cosolvent probably won’t be asked to address many of them, but…