Essay .03

AI exposes weak projects

The great filter of mediocrity.

Many fear that AI will replace programmers, designers and writers. The reality is more subtle: AI will replace the average.

If your code is boilerplate, Copilot writes it faster. If your design is a generic template, Midjourney generates it in seconds. If your text is a soulless corporate summary, ChatGPT does it better.

The End of "Good Enough"

For a long time, it was possible to build a digital business by just being "ok". A functional site, readable content, a standard product. The technical barrier to entry protected mediocrity.

AI lowered that barrier to zero. Anyone can generate "ok" instantly. "Good enough" has become a worthless commodity.

This ruthlessly exposes projects without a real value proposition. If the core of your project can be replicated by a prompt, you don't have a business, you have a temporary feature.

The only defense is idiosyncrasy. Be strange, be complex, be human in a way that statistics cannot predict.