LLMs Are the Ultimate Demoware

Summary

LLMs Are the Ultimate Demoware 01 Oct, 2025 Disclaimers This is an article about AI. If you’re tired of talking about AI please close this tab and don’t yell at me! I’m not an economist, or an AI expert, just a chart enthusiast and programmer. Definitions“Software” is a program that runs on your computer that allows you to accomplish a task. Software is “good” if it frequently allows you to accomplish said task without too much trouble. “Demoware” is a type of software that looks “good” during a demonstration. That is, it can help accomplish a simulated task during a demo, but then fails to consistently help in completing tasks when deployed for daily use. “LLMs” are Large Language Models, like GPT-5, Claude, etc. People typically interact with LLMs through chatbots, and in specialized fields like programming, through dedicated software such as the Cursor development environment. How does a software demo workWhen developing demoware, which I have done in the past, you develop a basic prototype of software and find a particular scenario in which it performs quite well. I’ve made plenty of dashboards that were largely demoware. In the demo, you can say “With this new dashboard, we’ll look at X salesperson. The dashboard shows they’ve been performing significantly above average, so maybe they deserve a raise!”. Managers in the room nod. “This will lead to great efficiencies! I am good at purchasing technology!” Once the demoware has been purchased by management, an email goes out to staff that everyone should log in and use the dashboard. In day to day use, when looking at data that wasn’t cherry picked for the demo, the dashboard fails to deliver on the promised insights or time savings. In time, the dashboard is ignored. Despite the lack of real value, the software was purchased and the software vendor has already made their money, at least in the short term. LLMs are the ultimate demowareTraditional demoware, like a useless dashboard, takes a fair amount of time and...