Tuesday 2¢ - Free Robot Puppies

This week's 2 cents: That shiny new AI tool you got there - is it a free puppy or a free beer?

Once upon a time, in a land a long time ago, before the ages of AI, Headless, and even SaaS, “open” and “source” were the words on every cool kid’s lips.

Of course, open source software is considered to be “free” which is bollocks, as maybe the code base can be acquired with zero money, there is most definitely a cost when you tried to develop on it and support it.

Open source is like free puppies, not free beer.

To get the benefit of your free puppies, they need feeding, training, walking, and all the things puppies need.

Free beer needs nothing; it enhances your life* at no cost.

The premise was that the cost of an open-source solution might be low, but the total cost of ownership was certainly not.

The economics of the solution shifted, from upfront costs to puppy training, feeding, and all the other things a business solution needs.

So far, so “Ian the year 2005 called and it wants its analogy back.”

My point for this short post in 2025 is that AI appears to be positioned in the same way, offering all the benefits of some magic with no (or negligible) cost.

The difference with open source is that, yes, there is an upfront and monthly cost with an AI tool, but after that, the promise is that it requires nothing else, no people, and no effort.

Free beer!

However, you guessed it - it is often a free puppy.

That AI-powered outreach tool that will replace your SDR team?

It will still need integrating, clean data, training, creative content, and a human to ensure it’s not using too many em dashes and letting its robot show or addressing people as {firstname}, etc. etc.

Like open source, the effort and cost have not disappeared; it’s merely shifted to a different part of the process.

Like your free puppy, once it’s been trained, fed, watered, and nurtured, it can bound around the park wherever you throw the ball.

Or, do the thing it promises to do at a scale that requires fewer humans.

But..

It’s not free beer.

*Please drink responsibly - ;-)