There's a $200B market nobody's building for

I found a Minecraft mod generator that's created 190,000+ mods.

No coding required. You describe what you want. AI builds it. You download a working .jar file.

It's called CreativeMode.net. Y Combinator backed it. And it made me realize something:

The "prompt-to-X" market is about to explode, but everyone's building in the wrong places.

The pattern that works

CreativeMode nailed a formula:

1. Find a massive community with existing creator motivation (Minecraft: 140M+ monthly active users)
2. Identify the technical barrier preventing most people from creating (Java modding is hard)
3. Remove that barrier entirely with AI (describe → generate → download → play)
4. Add viral mechanics (share, fork, remix)

Result: 190,000+ mods created. Y Combinator funding. First-mover advantage in a massive niche.

What's saturated vs. what's wide open

Saturated (don't bother):

• Text-to-image (Midjourney, DALL-E, Stable Diffusion)
• Text-to-text (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini)
• Travel itineraries
• Recipe generation
• Generic presentation makers

Wide open (nobody's building):

Gaming beyond Minecraft

The CreativeMode model is entirely unbuilt for:

• Skyrim/Fallout - 500,000+ mods exist, all made manually with steep learning curves
• GTA V - massive modding scene, zero AI generation
• Factorio - systems-oriented players who would embrace AI assistance
• Roblox - $844M paid to developers in 2024, lacks accessible generation tooling

Craft patterns that actually work

Here's a wild gap: AI tools can generate images of quilts and embroidery. But generating actual, mathematically accurate patterns? Unsolved.

QuiltingDaily tested ChatGPT on a simple 5-inch Pinwheel block. It generated a Nine-Patch block with incorrect measurements. The AI doesn't understand seam allowances, cutting dimensions, piecing order, or gauge calculations.

Same with embroidery: most "AI embroidery" tools create pictures, not machine-readable digitizing files (DST, PES formats).

The quilting industry alone is worth billions. Zero adequate AI tooling.

Construction documentation

The $12 trillion construction industry still relies on manual documentation. 80% of specification content is consistent across projects which is perfect for AI automation. But enterprise tools cost $200-500/month. Small-to-medium contractors can't afford them.

Nobody's built the "prompt-to-bid-package" tool for SMB contractors. Complete proposals, OSHA-compliant safety docs, change order justifications - all generated from project parameters.

SMB financial models

Enterprise FP&A tools (Drivetrain, Pigment, Anaplan) target large companies. Nothing serves the 5M+ small businesses that need:

• Startup pitch deck financials
• Small business loan applications
• Franchise financial models
• E-commerce unit economics

Too complex for generic AI, not lucrative enough for enterprise vendors. Classic underserved middle market.

The formula for finding these opportunities

1. Find the community that already wants to create something (modders, crafters, contractors, founders)
2. Identify the technical barrier (coding, pattern math, compliance knowledge, financial modeling)
3. Check if AI can plausibly solve it (is there training data? are the outputs standardized?)
4. Verify nobody's done it well (search Reddit, niche forums, look for complaints)
5. Build the prompt-to-[specific thing] tool

The key insight: horizontal tools face commodity pressure. Vertical-specific generators command premium pricing and loyal users.

What makes it work

CreativeMode's success factors are instructive:

• Massive TAM with enthusiastic creators - people already want to make the thing
• Zero friction - describe, generate, download, use
• Community remix - viral growth from sharing and forking
• Accessible pricing - free tier plus reasonable subscription

The pattern is proven. The question is which vertical gets this treatment next.

My bets

If I were building prompt-to-X tools right now, I'd look at:

1. Skyrim modding - proven community, unserved by AI
2. Quilting/sewing patterns - massive hobby industry, complete tooling gap
3. Construction proposals for SMBs - high-value documents, clear templates
4. Indie game NPC dialogue - Inworld AI priced for enterprise, indie devs need $10-50/month solutions
5. Board game/RPG homebrew - passionate creators, complex generation

The window is open but narrowing. These markets will consolidate by 2027.

The deeper point

The prompt-to-X market isn't about AI capabilities. Those are commoditizing fast.

It's about understanding specific communities well enough to remove their specific barriers.

CreativeMode works because someone understood Minecraft modders. Not because they had better AI.

The next $100M prompt-to-X companies will be built by people who deeply understand quilters, contractors, indie game devs, or whatever niche they're serving.

Technical AI capability is table stakes. Community understanding is the moat.