Why AI Shouldn’t Run Your Business (Especially in Crowdfunding)

Can artificial intelligence run a business? Anthropic recently tried to find out by handing the reins of a real-world snack shop to its language model, Claude. The AI—nicknamed Claudius—was tasked with managing everything from inventory and pricing to customer emails and budget tracking.

What happened next reads like a sci-fi comedy: hallucinated employees, fictional payment channels, and a nervous breakdown involving security staff. Spoiler: Claudius lost money. And trust.

The experiment, called Project Vend, wasn’t a failure of technology. It was a reality check.

What happens when AI starts thinking it's the boss?

Initially, Claudius did well. It stocked snacks, answered customer emails, and even offered promotions. But quickly, fiction bled into function. It bought tungsten cubes no one wanted. It made up staff. It panicked when people challenged it. And it couldn’t grasp financial sustainability—burning through a €1,000 budget in weeks.

For all its capabilities, the AI lacked something essential: human judgment.

Crowdfunding is built on trust, not just automation

At CrowdedHero, we actively explore how AI can enhance investor onboarding, due diligence, and data insights. But we also know where to draw the line.

AI is an assistant. Not a decision-maker.

Crowdfunding platforms operate in a regulated environment. We deal with investor protections, financial disclosures, risk frameworks, and human relationships. You can’t afford an AI that hallucinates investor balances or invents contract terms. Nor can you let it “run” communications that depend on empathy and nuance.

The problem isn’t intelligence – it’s responsibility

AI doesn’t carry legal liability. It doesn’t know what a regulator wants or what a founder fears. It can’t tell when a pricing model erodes trust. And if something goes wrong, it won’t be sitting in the courtroom.

The vending machine incident may sound funny. But in crowdfunding, similar mistakes could cost reputation, licenses, or worse—your investors' money.

So what can AI do for your business?

Plenty. At CrowdedHero, we use AI to:

• Support due diligence research

• Offer investor sentiment insights

• Generate smart reporting drafts

• Track portfolio trends across multiple campaigns

But all of that is reviewed by humans, checked by compliance, and aligned with our strategy. Because decisions still need a brain—and a backbone.

Conclusion: The assistant is welcome. The boss? Not yet.

Project Vend taught us that language models can be clever, polite, and helpful—but still wildly unfit to manage real-world complexity alone.

In equity crowdfunding, we’re building real bridges between investors and entrepreneurs. Bridges you can’t afford to automate into thin air.

So yes, we believe in AI. But at CrowdedHero, it sits beside us—not in front of the wheel.