Recently I came across a website called AIBox, which provides free AI-Powered Tools. Among them were simple things like a JSON Formatter/Validator. I was confused – how exactly does a tool like this need or use AI, and what possible benefits could there be?
What is a JSON Formatter/Validator?
First I just want to get everyone on the same page. If you already know what a JSON Formatter/Validator does, you can skip this section. Otherwise, read on.
Basically a JSON Formatter/Validator does two things. It formats, and it validates JSON. JSON is a lightweight, human-readable way of defining data that can (among other things) be sent over the internet. The Formatter can format the data so it is easier to read, or it can format it so it is ready to send over the internet. The Validator can check the JSON for any errors so that users can fix them.
Now that we’re all caught up, it’s time to look at what an AI powered version of this looks like.
Powering it with AI
The thing about JSON Formatter/Validators is that they are a solved problem. We already have lightning fast implementations and the already existing tools have even more features. If you look at the Best JSON Formatter and Validator you will see it allows you to download the data as a .json file, and can even convert it to different data formats. All of this without needing to use an LLM, and all of this in 2015.
It’s also something that is integrated into most development tools. It’s a tool so common that most programmers could easily write one from scratch in less than a day. It’s a tool so common that no one needs to write one anymore, unless they’re doing it as a learning exercise.
So when I see an AI-powered version of it I’m left dumbfounded. What could attaching an LLM to this tool do to enhance it? I decided to try it out. Testing the tool with some basic JSON data gives the expected results. I can format the JSON with various indentations, or minifiy it all to a single line. It’s fast and has no bugs as far as I can tell.
It’s fast. Suspiciously fast for something supposedly “AI-powered.”
So I checked the network tab. No API calls. No model inference. Nothing.
It’s not AI-powered at all, it’s just a basic JavaScript implementation.
Is this deceptive marketing? Are they just taking a common technology, slapping the letters A and I onto it in order to pull in investors?
The only thing I can think of is that the code itself was generated by an LLM. Okay, cool, but then what is the point? Is this some new cargo-cult that simply believes a tool to be better simply because it was AI generated?
“Reinventing” the Wheel
This all feels like it should be harmless, but we’re seeing more and more tools like this coming out. People thinking it’s better because it’s AI, when AI does nothing to improve things. When I start to see tools like this being released, I worry how much time and money is being wasted on these non-products.
This is just one example of many tools available on the site. They’re all described as “AI-Powered,” yet they bring nothing new to the table. They’re just reimplementations of common tools generated with an LLM rather than manually created. Calling them “AI-powered” is unjustified and adds no user value.
