Taste is the one thing that isn’t in the dataset

I keep hearing the same question: if a machine can make an image, a layout, an animation and the code in a few seconds, why would anyone still do design?

I think the question is wrong. Making has become cheap. Choosing hasn’t.

Models are trained on everything that already exists. Ask them for something and you get the most likely answer. Clean, good, and somehow already seen. What they don’t have is your life. The places you’ve been, the things you noticed when no one was looking, the notes you never posted. That’s the one dataset nobody else has. And taste is how you choose from it: what stays and what goes.

That’s why I think the curator will be the most important role. Music has been free and endless for years, yet on a Friday night people still go to one specific party. Not for the songs, they have those on their phones. They go for the person behind the decks, for what they choose to play and in what order. The same will be true for images, writing, games, everything. When there’s too much of everything, we follow people, not content.

I also don’t think the balance between those who make and those who watch will change much. Tools have always become more accessible, and most people still preferred to consume. A few will make, many will watch, listen and scroll. The only difference is that makers will be valued less for craft and more for choice.

One more thing. Having your own taste doesn’t mean doing everything alone. The best things often happen when you leave room for someone else’s dataset. Your taste doesn’t get diluted when it crosses with someone else’s. It gets clearer.

Let the machines do the repetition. I’ll keep looking, noting and choosing.