Designers push back on AI-era 'convergence to the mean': craft is what defines 'working'
_AustinCalvert_ · x · 2026-10-05
Designer ryolu's thread argues that access to every perspective isn't the same as having one — models haven't lived a particular life that makes one detail unbearable and another beautiful. When everyone studies what gets attention and copies what works, output becomes polished yet interchangeable: "convergence to the mean," where feedback stops informing the work.
Paired with it, gabrielvaldivia's piece "Craft vs quality" contends that craft isn't a luxury sprinkled on top of a working product — it's the set of decisions that determine what 'working' actually feels like, from structure and patterns down to the smallest interaction.
Related event: Developer Warns of "Convergence to the Mean" in AI-Era Creativity(3 posts)→
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