Saturday Trendspotting: AI education and sleep tech

Welcome back, Superhuman

Americans are long overdue for a good night’s sleep — a quick web search will shore up an endless stream of articles, podcasts, and blog posts on America’s sleeplessness epidemic. With 1 in 2 Americans going through symptoms of insomnia at least once a month, sleep tech is emerging as the next big trend in the wellness space.

P.S. The Saturday Trendspotting Special is designed to help you find the next big idea, trend, or opportunity that you can leverage to get ahead at work or start your own thing. Regular AI and Tech updates will resume as usual on Monday.

AI & EDUCATION

From preschool to PhDs, AI-powered tools are changing how students study and learn

The Trend: There’s never been a better time to be a student. Just think of all the things you hated back when you were in school — research, endless notetaking, getting stuck with complex concepts. Now imagine having a personal tutor with you at all times to help you out with these tasks so that you never fall behind on any subject.

According to Pew, about 1 in 4 US teens are now turning to ChatGPT for various aspects of their schoolwork. Even colleges that were once skeptical about AI in the classroom are now warming up to the idea, using AI to automate grading, do routine paperwork, and identify struggling students early on for timely intervention. And no wonder: Unlike humans, AI can closely analyze a student's unique learning style and provide personalized assistance, almost never losing its cool at "dumb" questions. Just take a look at what this dad has to say about the "super genius teacher" who tutored his son — a post that has since blown up on X.

The Opportunity: With twice as many teens using ChatGPT for schoolwork today than a year ago, there’s already an existing market that is ready for more specialized AI solutions in education. AI in education is expected to be a $55.4B market by 2030, with new businesses and startups tapping into the space. EdTech startup Synthesis just rolled out an AI tutor which is making big waves on socials. And it’s not just traditional education apps either. OpenAI-backed Speak raised $78M at a $1B valuation to help users learn new languages.

If you’re looking to tap into this opportunity for your own project or side hustle, here are a few promising places you can look into:

• AI Tutoring Services: Probably the most obvious opportunity in the space. You can create personalized AI tutors for students. Adaptive learning technology can help you tailor content based on each student and fill potential learning gaps. Example: Khanmigo, an AI-powered tutor by Khan Academy, offers personalized learning experiences and immediate feedback to students.

• AI-Driven Assessment Tools: Educators are a huge market for AI-powered EdTech. You can tap into this space by creating tools that automate grading and provide instant feedback, helping reduce the intense workload on educators and offering timely insights to help students improve.

• AI-powered LMS tools: You can also help schools streamline administrative tasks by creating and selling LMS platforms that incorporate AI. These platforms help administrators track student progress and tailor learning experiences to each student.

• AI-enhanced VR tools for education: AR/VR has been the most exciting technology outside of AI and crypto. Building AI-enhanced VR solutions for schools can create immersive experiences for students, offering experiential learning in fields like science and history.

But be careful. AI models are notoriously unreliable and prone to hallucinations. Students and educators relying on AI-generated content can accidentally accept false information which can have major consequences. That being said, the reliability of AI models is improving and there’s definitely an opportunity to start experimenting now.

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HEALTH & WELLNESS

Sleep on it — technology may be the antidote to America’s sleeplessness epidemic

The Trend: Picture this: you’re lying in bed at night, staring at the ceiling in the dark, just waiting to fall asleep. The clock ticks — 2:00 AM, 3:00 AM — but your brain just won’t stop racing. It’s looking like you’ll have to fuel up on caffeine in the morning and power through yet another sleepless day.

If the data is anything to go by, the odds of you going through these symptoms of insomnia once a month or more is close to 50%. According to Gallup polling data, 1 in 5 Americans sleep under five hours a night. No wonder patents for sleep tech in the US are off the charts, increasing at an average of 12% a year in the past decade, ranging from consumer wearables like smartwatches and fitness trackers to ergonomic sleep pods. We’ve covered some of these products in our Sunday emails, and sure enough, they’re some of our most clicked finds.

The Opportunity: The surge in demand for sleep tech products is more than just a fad. As more Americans report getting less sleep than before, the sleep tech market is taking off, projected to hit $58.2B in the next five years. The space offers multiple product and service niches that are ripe with opportunities.

Here are a few segments that could potentially be fertile starting points for folks looking to start their next big thing:

• Smart Sleep Wearables: These consumer products can monitor sleep patterns and provide actionable insights to users. The success of products like the Oura Ring proves that the demand for effective sleep tracking is sky-high. I personally use a Whoop band to track my sleep.

• AI-Powered Sleep Coaching Apps: If you don’t want to go the D2C route, you can use AI to offer personalized sleep improvement plans that help people understand their individual challenges. Apps like Zen Sleep and Sleep Reset use user data to offer tailored recommendations.

• Innovative Sleep Aids: Non-pharmaceutical sleep aids — devices like the Ozlo Sleepbuds that use auditory or electrical stimulation to affect brain waves — are another opportunity for aspiring entrepreneurs.

• Smart Bedding Solutions: You could develop bedding products that are plugged with tech to monitor and improve the quality of sleep. Products like the Motion Pillow or the Bryte Balance Smart Bed appeal to folks looking to optimize their sleep environment.

• Sleep Environment Micro-Consulting: You could offer consulting services that assess clients' sleep hygiene and create technology-based solutions to optimize it, including lighting, sound, and air quality.

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WHAT’S NEXT

The big events prediction markets are forecasting 

Here are the top predictions we found this week:

• With President Trump signaling that he’s ready to negotiate with ByteDance on the TikTok issue, the odds of Elon Musk purchasing TikTok before April are at 14%.

• 48% of the market thinks Kraken will go public in 2025.

• 38% of the market expects Grok 3 to be the best AI model at some point during the year.

• More than half of the market bets Anthropic will run a Superbowl ad this year. Budweiser follows with 67%.

• 75% of predictors think that an open model will be one of the Top 3 at some point this year.

In case you’re not familiar with prediction markets, think of them like a stock market for guessing future events. People buy and sell shares (basically bets) based on what they think will happen. While not 100% accurate (no one can tell the future for certain), they offer a glimpse into what the market thinks will unfold in the coming weeks and months.

Your opinion matters!

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Until next time,

Zain and the Superhuman AI team