The barrier to building software has been reduced dramatically.
With the AI tools available today, coding has transformed from a lengthy, privileged, and highly technical activity into a fast, responsive, and more democratic process. Yes, it still requires technical know-how, especially when it comes to scaling, maintainability, robustness, security, and so forth. But what was once an activity that seemed remote to anyone nontechnical is now accessible to anyone with an interest and a willingness to learn.
To put it bluntly, anyone can build software now. Just as Prometheus stole fire from Olympus to give to humans, OpenAI and Anthropic, along with the other leading labs, have snatched software development from the sweaty palms of the 10x developer and put it into everyone's hands.
So what is going to differentiate one piece of software from the next if coding is becoming a commodity? Besides the obvious limitations discussed previously, like scale, robustness, and security, I think one of the defining differentiators of software will increasingly become taste.
Now, taste was always important. Indeed, the best products aren't just functional — they are also beautiful. When I'm on the Stripe website, I can tell the people who made it have good taste. They put care into the details, and you feel it. Equally, when I use an Apple product, like the MacBook I'm typing on, the product looks and feels beautiful to use, and it's a big reason I prefer it over competitors.
Arguably, one of Steve Jobs' greatest characteristics was that he had fantastic taste, and some of the greatest consumer products were born from that genius. But pre-ChatGPT, you still had to know how to make those products technically. Before you got to taste, you had to go through the drudgery of making the thing in the first place, and taste was the proverbial cherry on top. But now taste is not just the cherry — it's the whole enchilada.
Taste is the difference between a vibe-coded app that feels like AI slop and a carefully crafted software solution that has merely been super-powered with AI. As the human in the loop, you are now the conductor of the orchestra, and it's up to you what music is playing. Your taste in music will determine a huge chunk of how wonderful that performance is.
AI is the fire of our age. It is now pervasive, and it can't be taken back. To those who use it: use it in good taste.