Show HN: A store that generates products from anything you type in search

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Overall reception and concept

  • Many commenters find the site “hilarious,” “delightful,” and nostalgically reminiscent of the whimsical early web and ThinkGeek‑style catalogs.
  • People share endless favorite items, often because of the copywriting, not just the images (e.g., broken clocks, flammable fire detectors, dragon dildos, “Mall of Babel” vibes).
  • Several call it the “best use of AI” they’ve seen, praising how it scratches the shopping itch without real consumption.

Content moderation and legal/safety concerns

  • Users quickly discover offensive and violent outputs (antisemitic names, explicit sexual content, “DIY genocide kit,” assassination/decapitation imagery).
  • There are strong calls for human review or stricter guardrails before exposing generated items to others.
  • A long subthread warns that anything resembling threats to political leaders can attract serious legal consequences; others argue about artistic expression vs. law, but the consensus is “don’t play with this.”
  • Some note the model’s inconsistent censorship (e.g., bans on some sexual or drug-related terms, but not others).

Technical implementation and AI behavior

  • The creator clarifies: product text uses llama-3.2-11b-vision-instruct, images use flux-1-schnell, all via Cloudflare Workers AI; site is built with Next.js + Tailwind on Cloudflare.
  • Costs are under a cent per product, but scale (tens of thousands of items) still leads to significant personal bills.
  • Users hit rate limits and occasional reload bugs; some products show refusal messages (“I cannot generate content related to Covid-19 / bombs / etc.”).
  • Commenters explore model weaknesses: poor handling of negation (“no laces”), physical impossibilities (square wheels, full-to-the-brim wine glasses), and loosely matched prompts.

Monetization and real‑world extensions

  • Suggestions include: donation products, ads, merch (shirts/mugs), STL export + 3D printing, drop‑shipping, affiliate linking, or connecting manufacturers to popular realistic ideas.
  • Some see it as a potential market research tool or “smokescreen MVP” engine—publish fantasies, then build only what people try to “buy.”

Reflections on AI, culture, and creativity

  • Several admire the human–AI feedback loop: humans invent absurd prompts, the AI elaborates, humans riff via reviews and meta‑products.
  • Others worry about “AI slop” polluting search, scamming with fake products, and making it harder for human creatives to stand out.
  • A few note sameness in image style and see the site as a live demo of both the power and the limitations of current generative models.