In the AI Era, Going Global Might Be the Best Leverage for Ordinary People

I’ve been thinking about a question lately: if someone wants to make money on their own, what’s the best direction right now?

After a lot of thought, I think the answer might be — going global with AI.

This isn’t some grand narrative. It’s just simple math, and for ordinary people in China, this path offers incredible value.

The Exchange Rate Is Leverage

This is the most straightforward point. Earn $1 in an overseas market, and it converts to roughly ¥7.

Same effort, same product, but charging overseas users means your income multiplies several times over. It’s not that you’re more talented — the exchange rate is doing the heavy lifting. For indie developers, content creators, and freelancers, this leverage is very real.

Price an app at ¥6 in China, and people might still complain it’s expensive. Price it at $0.99 overseas, and users won’t even blink.

Overseas Markets Aren’t as Cutthroat

Everyone who’s done business in China knows how intense the competition is. In any given space, thousands or tens of thousands of people are building nearly identical products, slashing prices until nobody makes money.

Overseas markets aren’t competition-free, but the intensity is completely different. In many verticals and niche markets, you’ll find shockingly few competitors — sometimes no decent product at all.

Here’s the interesting part: when people think “overseas market,” they immediately think English-speaking markets. But English markets are getting crowded too. The real blue ocean is in smaller language markets — Japanese, Korean, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic… These markets have substantial user bases, but far fewer people building for them. You used to stay away because of the language barrier. But now?

The “World Market” Is Much Bigger Than the “China Market”

People always say China’s market is big enough — 1.4 billion people, just focus domestically.

That’s not wrong, but think about it differently: there are 8 billion people in the world, and China accounts for less than one-fifth. Internet users are spread across every country, many regions are rapidly digitizing, and demand is far from being met.

Build a product for 1.4 billion people in China, and you’re competing against millions of Chinese entrepreneurs, all crammed into the same market fighting tooth and nail. But if you go overseas, you’re targeting over 6 billion people, and most Chinese entrepreneurs have never even considered building for overseas markets — your peer competition drops dramatically.

Isn’t that the definition of an information and perception gap?

AI Has Flattened the Barriers

What used to be the biggest obstacle to going global? Language.

If you don’t speak English, how do you build an English product? If you don’t know Japanese, how do you write Japanese copy? If you don’t understand local culture, how do you run localized operations?

Before AI, these were hard barriers.

But now, AI translation quality is good enough to use directly. Whether it’s multilingual product interfaces, App Store descriptions, social media content, or customer support — AI handles it all, and the quality is solid.

More importantly, AI does far more than just translate. It can help you write code, create designs, draft copy, analyze markets, generate images and videos… Things that one person couldn’t do before, one person with a few AI tools can now handle.

Now It’s About AI Skills

This is my biggest recent realization.

AI has effectively leveled many of the skill gaps between people. Can’t code? AI writes it for you. Can’t design? AI generates it. Bad at English? AI translates. Can’t write copy? AI drafts it.

Skills that used to be barriers no longer are.

But a new gap has emerged — who can use AI better.

With AI coding, some people ship complete products that make money, while others can’t even produce a working demo. With AI content, some people create things that spread, while others produce nothing but generic AI slop.

The gap isn’t in AI itself — it’s in how you use it. Your judgment, taste, understanding of needs, and market instincts — these are your real competitive advantages now.

AI is an amplifier, not a replacement. What it amplifies is your cognition and execution.

Final Thoughts

If you’re in China, have some time, know how to use AI, and want to make money on your own — going global might be the most worthwhile direction to try right now.

You don’t need a big team, big funding, or a big technical background. One person, a few AI tools, find a niche overseas need, build it, ship it, get your first paying user.

This path isn’t for everyone, but the barrier to entry has never been lower than it is today.