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The Lab

What you can (and can't) build with AI in 2026

Patterns from 42 real builds.

Dana Levin Lab Editor, Y Build
Published Jun 1, 2026
9 min
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cover · 1200×600

After 42 real builds in the Lab, the boundary of what AI can ship reliably is clearer than the hype suggests. Here’s where it’s genuinely good, and where it still needs a human.

Reliable today

CRUD apps, auth, dashboards, integrations with well-documented APIs, and the deploy path itself. These come out the other end working more often than not.

Still hard

Anything with fuzzy state, real-time correctness, or a domain the model hasn’t seen much of. We show the failure shapes so you can spot them early.

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Written by
Dana Levin Lab Editor, Y Build

Dana runs the cost and capability experiments in the Lab and reviews every teardown for method. Background in data journalism and developer education.

25+ apps shipped 6 yrs full-stack Author · The Lab
More from Dana → @danalevin github ↗

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