Developing Taste: Emil Kowalski on why judgment beats tools in the AI era
rseroter · x · 2026-10-21
Design engineer Emil Kowalski's essay argues that in an era where anyone can ship working software with AI, taste — brand, design, and overall experience — is what differentiates products.
Key points:
- Citing Anu Atluru: "In a world of scarcity, we treasure tools. In a world of abundance, we treasure taste." Like cars commoditizing, working software is no longer the differentiator.
- Taste isn't personal preference but a trained instinct — the ability to see beyond the obvious and recognize what elevates.
- How to train it: expose yourself to great work in your field (echoing Steve Jobs), build a curated list of respected tastemakers, use their apps and read their books.
- When analyzing work, don't label things good or bad — rationalize why something feels great and learn the patterns instead of relying on gut feeling.
The post also opens enrollment for Kowalski's new course aiforui.dev, closing in 10 days.
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