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Status: Brainstorm Phase: Phase 5 (AI Media) | Tier: Pro / Studio

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The Big Idea

No other cannabis app generates personalized podcasts. No other cannabis app turns your order into a music video. No other cannabis app builds a 3D world from your terpene profile. No other cannabis app creates custom artwork for every strain in your collection. Nobody is doing any of this — not Leafly, not Weedmaps, not AllBud, not anyone. AI-generated media is the single most differentiated feature set on the High IQ roadmap. It transforms the app from a tool (track your cannabis, read reports) into an experience (hear your cannabis story, see your strains come alive, explore your terpene world). Tools compete on features. Experiences compete on feelings. And feelings drive subscriptions. The strategy is simple: every piece of intelligence High IQ already generates — research reports, strain profiles, terpene analyses, order histories, monthly stats — becomes raw material for AI media. The data layer is already built. The intelligence layer is already built. AI media is the presentation layer that makes all of it tangible, shareable, and deeply personal.

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The Flywheel

Every AI media format is designed to feed a self-reinforcing growth loop. The flywheel works because each step creates genuine value — not manufactured virality.
1

Pro User Uploads an Order

A subscriber imports a dispensary receipt or syncs a Gmail order. This is the trigger event. The app now has real purchase data to work with — specific strains, quantities, dates, dispensary.
2

AI Report Generates

The existing research report pipeline produces a detailed analysis: terpene breakdown, effects forecast, similar strains, High Family classification, medical research highlights. This is the intelligence layer.
3

AI Media Auto-Generates in Background

While the user reads their report, background tasks generate a podcast episode, a video summary, custom strain art, and a session soundtrack. By the time the user finishes reading, the media is ready. No waiting, no friction.
4

User Shares a Clip

The user taps share on a 30-second podcast clip or a strain art wallpaper. It goes to an Instagram Story, a group chat, a tweet. The content is genuinely interesting — “my cannabis app made me a podcast about my order” — so people actually watch, listen, and engage.
5

Friend Downloads the App

The shared clip includes a branded watermark and a deep link. The friend is curious. They download High IQ. They get the free tier — browse strains, track their stash, get one free report.
6

Friend Sees Media Previews and Upgrades

After generating their first report, the new user sees blurred previews of the podcast, video, and art that Pro subscribers get. A 15-second faded audio preview plays. The value is obvious. They subscribe.
7

Cycle Repeats

The new Pro subscriber uploads their own order, generates their own media, shares their own clips. Every subscriber becomes a content creator for the app without even trying.

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Media Types at a Glance

Video Reports

Watch your research report as a narrated AI video — 30-second share clips or 3-minute deep dives

AI Podcasts

NotebookLM-style episodes where two AI hosts discuss your strains, your data, your month

Strain Art

Custom AI artwork for every strain — unique to your profile, usable as wallpapers

Session Music

AI soundtracks mapped to terpene profiles — every strain has its own sound

Social Posts

Pre-written captions and posts ready to share on Instagram, Twitter/X, Reddit

AI Worlds

Navigable 3D environments generated from your research reports via World Labs

Strain Page Videos

Animated Professor High mascots that bring strain detail pages to life

Blog AI Content

Every blog article as a video summary, podcast episode, or ambient soundtrack

AI Music Videos

The premium format — AI music + AI video combined into shareable music videos

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Access Model

The access model is deliberately frictionless for paying subscribers.
Pro tier gets unlimited AI media generation. No credits. No counting. No friction. The moment you introduce “you have 3 podcast generations left this month,” the magic dies. Subscription pricing absorbs the cost — users should never think about limits.

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How Each Tier Experiences AI Media

TierExperience
FreeSee that AI media exists. See blurred thumbnails below every report. Hear a 15-second faded preview of the podcast. See a low-resolution, watermarked strain art preview. The value is obvious but inaccessible.
ProFull access to all AI media formats. Unlimited generation. Download, share, set as wallpaper. Every report auto-generates all media types in the background.
Studio (future)Priority generation queue, higher quality outputs, exclusive formats (music videos, AI worlds), custom voice selection for podcasts, extended podcast lengths.

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Why No Credits

Credit systems create anxiety. “Should I use my last credit on this strain or save it?” That friction kills engagement. The whole point of AI media is that it rewards engagement — every order, every report, every month generates new content. Credits punish the exact behavior we want to encourage. The economics work because generation costs decrease over time while subscription revenue remains stable. Early adopters cost more to serve. Scale makes it profitable.

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Why AI Media Is the Ultimate Reward

Six reasons this feature set justifies the entire product strategy:

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1. It Cannot Be Replicated

Generating personalized AI media from cannabis intelligence data requires the entire stack — strain database, terpene analysis, High Family classification, research reports, user history. A competitor would need to rebuild years of data infrastructure before they could generate a single podcast episode. This is a compounding moat, not a feature.

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2. It Scales with AI Improvements

Every advancement in AI video, music, and voice generation makes our output better without any engineering work. When ElevenLabs ships better voices, our podcasts improve. When Runway ships faster video, our clips render sooner. We ride the AI wave instead of fighting it.

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3. It Delivers Genuine Value

This is not a gimmick. A personalized podcast that analyzes the terpene interaction between the three strains you just bought is genuinely useful and genuinely entertaining. It surfaces insights the user might miss from reading a text report. Different people absorb information differently — audio, visual, textual — and AI media meets them where they are.

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4. It Is Naturally Shareable

People share clips, not badges. People share music, not analytics dashboards. People share art, not terpene charts. AI media converts private intelligence into public content. Every share is an organic advertisement that does not feel like an advertisement because the content itself is interesting.

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5. It Justifies Subscription Pricing

“12.99/monthforacannabistracker"isatoughsell."12.99/month for a cannabis tracker" is a tough sell. "12.99/month for a cannabis intelligence platform that generates personalized podcasts, videos, music, and art from your data” is a completely different value proposition. AI media makes the price feel like a bargain.

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6. It Creates Content Rituals

“My monthly High IQ podcast dropped.” “New strain art just generated for the Runtz I picked up.” “Check out my January cannabis music video.” These become rituals — anticipated events tied to real behavior (buying cannabis). Rituals drive retention better than any notification strategy.

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The Upgrade Hook

The upgrade hook is the single most important UI moment in the free-to-Pro conversion funnel.

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How It Works

After a free user generates their one complimentary text report, the report detail screen shows a section below the report content: 
──────────────────────────────
  YOUR REPORT IN OTHER FORMATS
──────────────────────────────

  [BLURRED]  AI Podcast Episode
  "So John just picked up Blue Dream..."
  ▶ ░░░░░░░░░░░  0:15 / 4:32
  [15 seconds of audio fades out]

  [BLURRED]  Video Summary
  [Low-res preview thumbnail]

  [BLURRED]  Strain Art
  [Watermarked low-res preview]

  [BLURRED]  Session Soundtrack
  ▶ ░░░░░░░░░░░  0:15 / 18:00

  ┌──────────────────────────┐
  │  Unlock All Formats      │
  │  Upgrade to Pro           │
  └──────────────────────────┘
The key details: the podcast actually plays for 15 seconds — the user hears the AI hosts say their name and mention their strain before it fades. The art preview is real but low-resolution and watermarked. The video thumbnail is real but blurred. The user can see and partially experience what they are missing. Curiosity and FOMO do the rest.

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Cost Considerations

AI media generation has real per-unit costs that need benchmarking before committing to “unlimited” access.
Media TypeEstimated Cost Per GenerationGeneration TimeNotes
AI Podcast (5 min)0.10−0.10 - 0.5030-60 secTTS is cheap; dialogue script generation via LLM is the main cost
Video Report (60 sec)0.50−0.50 - 2.001-3 minDepends heavily on provider (Runway vs Pika vs open-source)
Strain Art0.02−0.02 - 0.105-15 secImage generation is commoditized and falling fast
Session Music (15 min)0.10−0.10 - 1.0030-120 secSuno/ElevenLabs pricing; longer tracks cost more
Social Posts0.01−0.01 - 0.052-5 secPure LLM text generation; nearly free
AI World0.50−0.50 - 5.001-5 minWorld Labs pricing TBD; likely the most expensive format
Music Video (90 sec)1.00−1.00 - 5.003-10 minCombines music + video; highest cost
These are rough estimates as of early 2026. Actual costs will vary significantly based on provider, quality settings, and negotiated pricing. Before committing to unlimited access, we need real benchmarks from production-grade outputs — not demo-tier quality.

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Cost Sustainability Math

At 12.99/monthperProsubscriber,ifatypicalsubscribergenerates4reports/month(oneperdispensaryvisit),andeachreporttriggersallmediatypes,thetotalgenerationcostpersubscribermightbe12.99/month per Pro subscriber, if a typical subscriber generates 4 reports/month (one per dispensary visit), and each report triggers all media types, the total generation cost per subscriber might be 8-$25/month — which could exceed subscription revenue in the worst case. Mitigations:
  • Lazy generation — only generate media types the user actually opens, not all of them preemptively
  • Caching — cache strain-specific media (art, music, videos) since many users buy the same popular strains
  • Quality tiers — generate fast/cheap versions immediately, offer “HD” rendering that takes longer
  • Selective auto-generation — auto-generate podcasts (cheapest, most impressive), let users request others on demand
  • Studio tier — if costs are too high for Pro, move premium formats (music videos, AI worlds) to a higher tier

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Implementation Priority

Not all media types are equal in terms of impact, feasibility, and cost. The recommended build order:
1

First: Social Posts

Nearly free to generate (LLM text only). Drives immediate sharing. Can ship in days, not weeks. Validates the sharing behavior before investing in expensive media formats.
2

Second: Strain Art

Image generation is fast, cheap, and commoditized. Highest visual impact for the lowest cost. Wallpapers and profile photos have high retention value. Instagram-native shareability.
3

Third: AI Podcasts

The most impressive format — “my app made me a podcast” is a genuine surprise-and-delight moment. NotebookLM proved the format works. Cost is moderate. This is the hero feature for marketing.
4

Fourth: Session Music

Unique and differentiated. Terpene-to-music mapping is novel and defensible. Moderate cost. Good for retention (users listen during sessions).
5

Fifth: Video Reports

Higher cost and longer generation time, but highest shareability for short clips. Instagram Reels and TikTok distribution potential.
6

Sixth: Blog AI Content

Extends the media pipeline to the website. Reuses podcast and video infrastructure. Good for SEO and content marketing.
7

Seventh: Strain Page Videos

Animated mascots on the website. High polish, moderate complexity. Uses existing artwork as input.
8

Eighth: AI Worlds

Depends on World Labs API maturity and pricing. The most experimental format. Save for when the core media pipeline is stable.
9

Ninth: AI Music Videos

The premium format. Requires both music and video pipelines to be operational. Ship last as the crown jewel.