What is taste, and why does it matter now?

The recipe for great work is very exacting taste plus the ability to gratify it; it is easier to see ugliness than to imagine beauty.

Filed here becauseHeld by two people twenty-four years apart.

1. George Saunders 6 Aug 2026 American short-story writer and novelist Could this phrase or sentence or paragraph or section be improved, even a little? That is, can I make myself (on this very localized turf) make myself dislike it less? ↗On the Perils of Self-Assessing...georgesaunders.substack.com · 6 Aug 2026

   Their wordsCould this phrase or sentence or paragraph or section be improved, even a little? That is, can I make myself (on this very localized turf) make myself dislike it less?

   ↗On the Perils of Self-Assessing...georgesaunders.substack.com

   6 Aug 2026

2. Paul Graham 1 Feb 2002 Co-founder of Y Combinator and Viaweb Don't ignore those voices. Cultivate them. The recipe for great work is: very exacting taste, plus the ability to gratify it. ↗Taste for Makerspaulgraham.com · 1 Feb 2002

   Their wordsDon't ignore those voices. Cultivate them. The recipe for great work is: very exacting taste, plus the ability to gratify it.

   ↗Taste for Makerspaulgraham.com

   1 Feb 2002

Taste necessarily implies judgment — that some things are good and some are bad — and you have to be willing to say so.

1. Dylan Field 16 Oct 2025 Co-founder and chief executive of Figma And there is something about judgment in there too. you know, uh, implied in taste is that some things are good and some things are bad. So, I think you have to be willing to lean into that yourself in terms of uh, being high judgment. ↗Figma’s CEO: Why AI makes design, craft, and quality the new moat for startups | Dylan Fieldyoutube.com · 16 Oct 2025 · 1:03:35 into the video

   Their wordsAnd there is something about judgment in there too. you know, uh, implied in taste is that some things are good and some things are bad. So, I think you have to be willing to lean into that yourself in terms of uh, being high judgment.

   Where this was said

   Watch from 1:03:35 plays here

   ↗Figma’s CEO: Why AI makes design, craft, and quality the new moat for startups | Dylan Fieldyoutube.com

   16 Oct 2025 · video · 1h 26m · spoken · machine transcript

Taste is the ability to distinguish excellence from mediocrity, and the hand can never consistently produce better than the eye can discern.

1. Julie Zhuo 25 Mar 2025 Co-founder of Sundial; former vice president of product… Good taste: taste is the ability to distinguish excellence from mediocrity. The hand can never consistently produce better than the eye can discern. ↗The Death of Product Development as We Know itlg.substack.com · 25 Mar 2025

   Their wordsGood taste: taste is the ability to distinguish excellence from mediocrity. The hand can never consistently produce better than the eye can discern.

   ↗The Death of Product Development as We Know itlg.substack.com

   25 Mar 2025

In making products, taste is not a matter of opinion but a sense of sophistication, learned by making something real rather than at school.

1. Karri Saarinen 12 Feb 2010 Co-founder and CEO of Linear In making products, taste is not a matter of opinion, but an actual sense of sophistication that a person has. People who make new things need to practice taste and recognize beauty when they see it. Schools or education have very little to teach in the area of taste, you need to get involved in making something real. ↗Your Product Needs a Soulkarrisaarinen.com · 12 Feb 2010

   Their wordsIn making products, taste is not a matter of opinion, but an actual sense of sophistication that a person has. People who make new things need to practice taste and recognize beauty when they see it. Schools or education have very little to teach in the area of taste, you need to get involved in making something real.

   ↗Your Product Needs a Soulkarrisaarinen.com

   12 Feb 2010

Taste is not just personal preference: there is such a thing as good and bad design, and a maker's taste can be wrong.

1. Paul Graham 1 Feb 2002 Co-founder of Y Combinator and Viaweb Saying that taste is just personal preference is a good way to prevent disputes. The trouble is, it's not true. You feel this when you start to design things. ↗Taste for Makerspaulgraham.com · 1 Feb 2002

   Their wordsSaying that taste is just personal preference is a good way to prevent disputes. The trouble is, it's not true. You feel this when you start to design things.

   ↗Taste for Makerspaulgraham.com

   1 Feb 2002

Developing taste for software requires engaging with the human condition through diverse experiences.

1. Sunil Pai 27 Sept 2026, 15:59 UTC Systems and developer-tools engineer at Cloudflare as of 2026 people think I'm joking when I tell them that to develop taste for software they need to have brunch with their friends, watch old movies and find old records, walk around metropolitan cities and observe how the building styles lend to the personality of the people around them, but I'm so fkin dead serious. ↗@threepointone on Xx.com · 27 Sept 2026

   Their wordspeople think I'm joking when I tell them that to develop taste for software they need to have brunch with their friends, watch old movies and find old records, walk around metropolitan cities and observe how the building styles lend to the personality of the people around them, but I'm so fkin dead serious.

   ↗@threepointone on Xx.com

   27 Sept 2026

Taste can be trained deliberately: write down what you think will matter in twelve months, then go back in twelve months and score yourself.

1. Jeff Dean 30 Jul 2026 Chief Scientist at Google DeepMind and Google Research Um, another way you can get more experience for yourself is to just write down a bunch of things you think might be important in the next 12 months. And maybe you pick one of them to work on, but go back and evaluate in 12 months of these other things, which ones actually seemed important or which ones did other people in the world go out and and create and which ones did they did not seem to do yet. ↗Jeff Dean: The 1% Rule for Building in AIyoutube.com · 30 Jul 2026 · 35:57 into the video

   Their wordsUm, another way you can get more experience for yourself is to just write down a bunch of things you think might be important in the next 12 months. And maybe you pick one of them to work on, but go back and evaluate in 12 months of these other things, which ones actually seemed important or which ones did other people in the world go out and and create and which ones did they did not seem to do yet.

   Where this was said

   Watch from 35:57 plays here

   ↗Jeff Dean: The 1% Rule for Building in AIyoutube.com

   30 Jul 2026 · video · 57m · spoken · machine transcript

Taste is not innate; it is a loop of noticing whether you like something, asking why, and learning the canon that led to it.

1. Dylan Field 16 Oct 2025 Co-founder and chief executive of Figma It's just this loop of okay, I'm having an experience of any sense. Maybe I'm looking at art, maybe I'm hearing music, maybe I'm literally eating food and tasting something, you know, but like do I like it? Do I not like it? Why? ↗Figma’s CEO: Why AI makes design, craft, and quality the new moat for startups | Dylan Fieldyoutube.com · 16 Oct 2025 · 1:00:49 into the video

   Their wordsIt's just this loop of okay, I'm having an experience of any sense. Maybe I'm looking at art, maybe I'm hearing music, maybe I'm literally eating food and tasting something, you know, but like do I like it? Do I not like it? Why?

   Where this was said

   Watch from 1:00:49 plays here

   ↗Figma’s CEO: Why AI makes design, craft, and quality the new moat for startups | Dylan Fieldyoutube.com

   16 Oct 2025 · video · 1h 26m · spoken · machine transcript

Research taste, the harder-to-learn conceptual skills behind good research strategy, takes a long time to develop but very little time to apply once acquired

1. Neel Nanda 19 Aug 2025 Runs the mechanistic interpretability team at Google DeepMind My model is that research requires a mix of skills. The day-to-day coding and execution is crucial. But there's also a set of harder-to-learn conceptual skills, collectively called research taste. These skills take a long time to gain because they have poor feedback loops, but they take very little time to use. ↗MATS Applications Open (Due Aug 29)neelnanda.io · 19 Aug 2025

   Their wordsMy model is that research requires a mix of skills. The day-to-day coding and execution is crucial. But there's also a set of harder-to-learn conceptual skills, collectively called research taste. These skills take a long time to gain because they have poor feedback loops, but they take very little time to use.

   ↗MATS Applications Open (Due Aug 29)neelnanda.io

   19 Aug 2025

Taste is not having better judgement than someone else; it is a heightened awareness of how things are configured, which can be learned from and applied.

1. Thiago Costa 21 Feb 2025 Designer and co-founder of Fey taste changes it doesn't mean that someone has a better taste than someone else is just this heightened awareness of how things are configured and then when you have this awareness attuned you can learn from it and apply ↗Thiago Costa - Cultivating taste as a designeryoutube.com · 21 Feb 2025 · 47:24 into the video

   Their wordstaste changes it doesn't mean that someone has a better taste than someone else is just this heightened awareness of how things are configured and then when you have this awareness attuned you can learn from it and apply

   Where this was said

   Watch from 47:24 plays here

   ↗Thiago Costa - Cultivating taste as a designeryoutube.com

   21 Feb 2025 · video · 58m · spoken · machine transcript

Taste is practised by exposing yourself to how the world is ordered, and understanding how that makes everything look.

1. Thiago Costa 21 Feb 2025 Designer and co-founder of Fey I think that's what defines taste you're exposed to these underlying configurations of how things look and we always search for symmetry you always search for things that are in order accidentally the nature is is perfect right everything is in order it's mathematically perfect but at the same time you know they change they move they're colors they're light so exposing yourself to those things and and understanding how these things make everything look is how you practice taste ↗Thiago Costa - Cultivating taste as a designeryoutube.com · 21 Feb 2025 · 45:35 into the video

   Their wordsI think that's what defines taste you're exposed to these underlying configurations of how things look and we always search for symmetry you always search for things that are in order accidentally the nature is is perfect right everything is in order it's mathematically perfect but at the same time you know they change they move they're colors they're light so exposing yourself to those things and and understanding how these things make everything look is how you practice taste

   Where this was said

   Watch from 45:35 plays here

   ↗Thiago Costa - Cultivating taste as a designeryoutube.com

   21 Feb 2025 · video · 58m · spoken · machine transcript

A person's taste develops faster than their skills, creating a frustrating gap early on.

1. Andrew Chen 15 Jan 2024 General partner at Andreessen Horowitz and author of The Cold Start Problem Initially, you might dislike your work as your taste develops faster than your skills, creating a frustrating gap between your taste and abilities. ↗How to write moreandrewchen.com · 15 Jan 2024

   Their wordsInitially, you might dislike your work as your taste develops faster than your skills, creating a frustrating gap between your taste and abilities.

   ↗How to write moreandrewchen.com

   15 Jan 2024

Founders, designers and developers need to develop their taste the way a sushi chef develops a palate, and appreciating culture is how.

1. Karri Saarinen 2 Sept 2012 Co-founder and CEO of Linear Like sushi chefs, we as founders, designers or developers, need to develop our tastes, in order to build things people can be impressed about. ↗Jiro’s Dreamkarrisaarinen.com · 2 Sept 2012

   Their wordsLike sushi chefs, we as founders, designers or developers, need to develop our tastes, in order to build things people can be impressed about.

   ↗Jiro’s Dreamkarrisaarinen.com

   2 Sept 2012

Restraint, saying no to good ideas, is probably one of the few ways to exercise taste.

1. Peter Sellis 20 Sept 2026 Former head of product at Discord exercising that kind of muscle of like saying no uh of restraint is probably one of the easiest like one of the few like muscles of taste you can exercise. If if a museum has all of their collection on the walls, then the curator hasn't done anything. ↗90 minutes of unfiltered product advice from Snap and Discord’s product chief | Peter Sellisyoutube.com · 20 Sept 2026 · 0:36:27 into the video

   Their wordsexercising that kind of muscle of like saying no uh of restraint is probably one of the easiest like one of the few like muscles of taste you can exercise. If if a museum has all of their collection on the walls, then the curator hasn't done anything.

   Where this was said

   Watch from 0:36:27 plays here

   ↗90 minutes of unfiltered product advice from Snap and Discord’s product chief | Peter Sellisyoutube.com

   20 Sept 2026 · video · 1h 36m · spoken · machine transcript

A first draft should not be graded good or bad; it is only the material that taste then gets to act on.

1. George Saunders 6 Aug 2026 American short-story writer and novelist Just don’t do it. Accept it, whatever it is, as a starting place in the long game of exerting your taste on your own prose. ↗On the Perils of Self-Assessing...georgesaunders.substack.com · 6 Aug 2026

   Their wordsJust don’t do it. Accept it, whatever it is, as a starting place in the long game of exerting your taste on your own prose.

   ↗On the Perils of Self-Assessing...georgesaunders.substack.com

   6 Aug 2026

Taste is not about consensus or criticism, but the courage to value what genuinely resonates with you.

1. Jason Liu 5 Jul 2026 Machine learning engineer and consultant focused on RAG… Taste isn't consensus. It's not judgment first, either. It's easy to be a critic. Curiosity has to come first, because without curiosity you never broaden your horizons. ↗If You Want Taste, You're Gonna Have to Eatjxnl.co · 5 Jul 2026

   Their wordsTaste isn't consensus. It's not judgment first, either. It's easy to be a critic. Curiosity has to come first, because without curiosity you never broaden your horizons.

   ↗If You Want Taste, You're Gonna Have to Eatjxnl.co

   5 Jul 2026

Writing to chase popularity rather than genuine interest corrupts a creator's work.

1. Nikita Prokopov 15 Dec 2025 Programmer and designer who writes at tonsky.me I mean, sure, you might try to guess people's tastes and only write about what's popular, but that will destroy your soul pretty quickly. ↗Statistics made simpletonsky.me · 15 Dec 2025

   Their wordsI mean, sure, you might try to guess people's tastes and only write about what's popular, but that will destroy your soul pretty quickly.

   ↗Statistics made simpletonsky.me

   15 Dec 2025

A product needs a soul, and for that it needs one person of great taste who is its living, breathing aspect and gets furious about every small detail.

1. Karri Saarinen 12 Feb 2010 Co-founder and CEO of Linear For the soul, you need a person with a great taste to be the living and breathing aspect of the product. The one forging the blades. The person who thinks about the in and outs of the product and the business. ↗Your Product Needs a Soulkarrisaarinen.com · 12 Feb 2010

   Their wordsFor the soul, you need a person with a great taste to be the living and breathing aspect of the product. The one forging the blades. The person who thinks about the in and outs of the product and the business.

   ↗Your Product Needs a Soulkarrisaarinen.com

   12 Feb 2010

Taste and judgment will be the most valuable skills over the next decade, and teenagers should spend their time now cultivating taste.

1. Tobias Lütke 15 Sept 2026 Co-founder and CEO of Shopify taste um and judgment um are the skills that have always been valuable but now will get to the limit. I think it's better to spend your teenage years now cultivating like understanding taste. ↗Tobi Lütke: The Skills AI Makes More Valuableyoutube.com · 15 Sept 2026 · 0:31:16 into the video

   Their wordstaste um and judgment um are the skills that have always been valuable but now will get to the limit. I think it's better to spend your teenage years now cultivating like understanding taste.

   Where this was said

   Watch from 0:31:16 plays here

   ↗Tobi Lütke: The Skills AI Makes More Valuableyoutube.com

   15 Sept 2026 · video · 1h 04m · spoken · machine transcript

When almost anything can get built, a product manager's true value lies in judgement and taste.

1. Robby Stein 10 Sept 2026 Vice President of Product for Google Search And I think in some cases that's still true, but really if in the world of today, almost anything you can think of can get built, it's more clear to me than ever that the actual true value of PM is actually around judging. It's around taste. ↗What it takes to be a top PM today | Robby Stein (Google Search) (Lenny & Friends Summit, San Francisco, 10 September 2026)youtube.com · 10 Sept 2026 · 2:46 into the video

   Their wordsAnd I think in some cases that's still true, but really if in the world of today, almost anything you can think of can get built, it's more clear to me than ever that the actual true value of PM is actually around judging. It's around taste.

   Where this was said

   Watch from 2:46 plays here

   ↗What it takes to be a top PM today | Robby Stein (Google Search) (Lenny & Friends Summit, San Francisco, 10 September 2026)youtube.com

   10 Sept 2026 · video · 19m · spoken · machine transcript

Product teams still need a tastemaker who does what AI cannot and holds the bar for great product.

1. Geoff Charles 10 Sept 2026 Chief Product Officer at Ramp; Ramp's first product hire Ultimately, you need someone who's holding the steering wheel and doing things that AI cannot do and holding the bar for what great product, great taste looks like. ↗What product looks like when coding is solved | Geoff Charles (Ramp CPO) (Lenny & Friends Summit, San Francisco, 10 September 2026)youtube.com · 10 Sept 2026 · 17:24 into the video

   Their wordsUltimately, you need someone who's holding the steering wheel and doing things that AI cannot do and holding the bar for what great product, great taste looks like.

   Where this was said

   Watch from 17:24 plays here

   ↗What product looks like when coding is solved | Geoff Charles (Ramp CPO) (Lenny & Friends Summit, San Francisco, 10 September 2026)youtube.com

   10 Sept 2026 · video · 19m · spoken · machine transcript

In an age of abundant information, a person's judgment, taste and perspective are their primary value as a writer.

1. Ann Handley 8 Sept 2026 Wall Street Journal bestselling author on marketing and writing Information is ridiculously abundant. Your judgment, taste, and perspective are literally all you have to work with now. ↗Make Posteingänge Sexy Again: 9 Ingredients for an Email Readers Want to Openannhandley.com · 8 Sept 2026

   Their wordsInformation is ridiculously abundant. Your judgment, taste, and perspective are literally all you have to work with now.

   ↗Make Posteingänge Sexy Again: 9 Ingredients for an Email Readers Want to Openannhandley.com

   8 Sept 2026

Most organisations are bottlenecked on ideas, vision and taste rather than on implementation, so making code cheap does not make them productive.

1. David Heinemeier Hansson 26 Aug 2026 Creator of Ruby on Rails, CTO of 37signals The other thing I'd say is that most organizations don't know what they want. They don't know how to make it better. They're not bottlenecked on implementation. They're bottlenecked on ideas. They're bottlenecked on vision. They're bottlenecked on taste. And if you don't have those element in excess of your implementational capacity, it doesn't help. So you can make a lot of shitty ideas come true, then what? ↗DHH: Future of Programming, AI, Agentic Engineering, Vibe Coding & Linux | Lex Fridman Podcast #501youtube.com · 26 Aug 2026 · 0:20:13 into the video

   Their wordsThe other thing I'd say is that most organizations don't know what they want. They don't know how to make it better. They're not bottlenecked on implementation. They're bottlenecked on ideas. They're bottlenecked on vision. They're bottlenecked on taste. And if you don't have those element in excess of your implementational capacity, it doesn't help. So you can make a lot of shitty ideas come true, then what?

   Where this was said

   Watch from 0:20:13 plays here

   ↗DHH: Future of Programming, AI, Agentic Engineering, Vibe Coding & Linux | Lex Fridman Podcast #501youtube.com

   26 Aug 2026 · video · 5h 15m · spoken · official transcript

Cheap intelligence does not make agency cheap, and these tools may mostly compound the advantage of people who already have the skill, taste, money and time.

1. Sunil Pai 14 Aug 2026 Systems and developer-tools engineer at Cloudflare as of 2026 making intelligence cheap does not automatically make “agency” cheap. people are constrained by time, money, confidence, health, education, institutions, family, geography; a model does not magic any of that away. there’s a perfectly believable future where these tools mostly compound the advantage of people who already have the skill, taste, money and the spare time to use them well. ↗the task isn't the jobsunilpai.dev · 14 Aug 2026

   Their wordsmaking intelligence cheap does not automatically make “agency” cheap. people are constrained by time, money, confidence, health, education, institutions, family, geography; a model does not magic any of that away. there’s a perfectly believable future where these tools mostly compound the advantage of people who already have the skill, taste, money and the spare time to use them well.

   ↗the task isn't the jobsunilpai.dev

   14 Aug 2026

When agents do the building, the scarce skill is taste: choosing which problem is worth the time at all.

1. Jeff Dean 30 Jul 2026 Chief Scientist at Google DeepMind and Google Research Yeah, I mean I think it's really having incredibly good taste in what you ask your agents to work on, right? That is the the crux of you know from my background uh a research problem. You know, a researcher can have all the tools and all the techniques, but often most of the battle is what problem are you gonna spend your time on? ↗Jeff Dean: The 1% Rule for Building in AIyoutube.com · 30 Jul 2026 · 34:03 into the video

   Their wordsYeah, I mean I think it's really having incredibly good taste in what you ask your agents to work on, right? That is the the crux of you know from my background uh a research problem. You know, a researcher can have all the tools and all the techniques, but often most of the battle is what problem are you gonna spend your time on?

   Where this was said

   Watch from 34:03 plays here

   ↗Jeff Dean: The 1% Rule for Building in AIyoutube.com

   30 Jul 2026 · video · 57m · spoken · machine transcript

Designers will do well out of AI rather than badly, because taste is the hardest part of their job to imagine being automated away.

1. Adam Mosseri 9 Jul 2026 Head of Instagram since 2018 you've got these other generalists doing design, you've got engineers doing design, product staff doing design, but I'm actually pretty long on design or designers because they tend to have taste and I think that is something that is much more difficult to imagine being automated away. ↗The rise of taste, human authenticity and judgment in an AI world | Adam Mosseri (Head of IG)youtube.com · 9 Jul 2026 · 0:08:31 into the video

   Their wordsyou've got these other generalists doing design, you've got engineers doing design, product staff doing design, but I'm actually pretty long on design or designers because they tend to have taste and I think that is something that is much more difficult to imagine being automated away.

   Where this was said

   Watch from 0:08:31 plays here

   ↗The rise of taste, human authenticity and judgment in an AI world | Adam Mosseri (Head of IG)youtube.com

   9 Jul 2026 · video · 1h 08m · spoken · machine transcript

AI has made ability nearly free, making taste the main bottleneck separating good creators from mediocre ones.

1. Jason Liu 5 Jul 2026 Machine learning engineer and consultant focused on RAG… As AI has allowed more and more people to create things, the biggest differentiation, the biggest skill people are lacking, is taste itself. ↗If You Want Taste, You're Gonna Have to Eatjxnl.co · 5 Jul 2026

   Their wordsAs AI has allowed more and more people to create things, the biggest differentiation, the biggest skill people are lacking, is taste itself.

   ↗If You Want Taste, You're Gonna Have to Eatjxnl.co

   5 Jul 2026

Craftsmanship, taste, and human judgment remain valuable in software development despite AI-assisted coding tools.

1. Scott Hanselman 9 Feb 2026 Programmer, teacher and speaker There is value in good taste, there is value in craftsmanship, and there is value in human judgment. ↗Is the craft dead?feeds.hanselman.com · 9 Feb 2026

   Their wordsThere is value in good taste, there is value in craftsmanship, and there is value in human judgment.

   ↗Is the craft dead?feeds.hanselman.com

   9 Feb 2026

As AI lowers the barrier to building software, personal taste becomes a more valuable differentiator.

1. Nat Eliason 7 Oct 2025 Writer and novelist But along with the question of what you're willing to maintain, as the barriers to creation drop the value of taste will only increase. ↗The Past and Future of Vibe Codingnateliason.com · 7 Oct 2025

   Their wordsBut along with the question of what you're willing to maintain, as the barriers to creation drop the value of taste will only increase.

   ↗The Past and Future of Vibe Codingnateliason.com

   7 Oct 2025

Using AI agents to do a task does not by itself increase a person's own pace of understanding, intuition, or taste for that work.

1. Nathan Lambert 12 Aug 2026 Machine-learning researcher on open language models Something intertwined with this story, which I stumbled upon when thinking about agents, is how your pace of understanding won't increase by using agents. ↗I wrote an AI textbook — how long until AI can do it better?interconnects.ai · 12 Aug 2026

   Their wordsSomething intertwined with this story, which I stumbled upon when thinking about agents, is how your pace of understanding won't increase by using agents.

   ↗I wrote an AI textbook — how long until AI can do it better?interconnects.ai

   12 Aug 2026

AI tends to flatten outputs toward sameness, so personal taste and perspective become the main way to stand out.

1. Tiago Forte 9 Jul 2026 Writer and teacher on productivity and personal knowledge management AI flattens everything it touches. The way you stand out is by getting clearer about what you really want, your taste, your perspective, your opinions. ↗Is Recall the Second Brain for the AI Era?fortelabs.com · 9 Jul 2026

   Their wordsAI flattens everything it touches. The way you stand out is by getting clearer about what you really want, your taste, your perspective, your opinions.

   ↗Is Recall the Second Brain for the AI Era?fortelabs.com

   9 Jul 2026

AI models default to generic, lowest-common-denominator output unless a user actively pushes back against them.

1. Kyle Chayka 29 Jun 2026 Staff writer at The New Yorker If the user doesn't actively push back against the AI model, then they get the generic output, the lowest common acceptable denominator of aesthetics and taste. ↗The generic style of AI web designkylechayka.substack.com · 29 Jun 2026

   Their wordsIf the user doesn't actively push back against the AI model, then they get the generic output, the lowest common acceptable denominator of aesthetics and taste.

   ↗The generic style of AI web designkylechayka.substack.com

   29 Jun 2026

Models have no research taste yet, which is why they complement researchers rather than replace them.

1. Noam Brown 26 Jun 2026 Research scientist at OpenAI one thing I see for research in particular is they don't have very good research taste right now and so I think they're actually a very good complement to researchers ↗Really Big Test-Time Compute in AI Changes Benchmarks, Safety and Research with OpenAI's Noam Brownyoutube.com · 26 Jun 2026 · 23:18 into the video

   Their wordsone thing I see for research in particular is they don't have very good research taste right now and so I think they're actually a very good complement to researchers

   Where this was said

   Watch from 23:18 plays here

   ↗Really Big Test-Time Compute in AI Changes Benchmarks, Safety and Research with OpenAI's Noam Brownyoutube.com

   26 Jun 2026 · video · 36m · spoken · machine transcript

Coming up with a good conjecture is harder than solving one, and that taste for the right question is what separates great scientists from good ones.

1. Demis Hassabis 23 Jul 2025 Co-founder and CEO of Google DeepMind So picking the right question is the hardest part of science and making the right hypothesis. And that's what today's systems definitely they can't do. So I often say it's harder to come up with a conjecture, a really good conjecture than it is to solve it. ↗Demis Hassabis: Future of AI, Simulating Reality, Physics and Video Games | Lex Fridman Podcast #475youtube.com · 23 Jul 2025 · 0:38:03 into the video

   Their wordsSo picking the right question is the hardest part of science and making the right hypothesis. And that's what today's systems definitely they can't do. So I often say it's harder to come up with a conjecture, a really good conjecture than it is to solve it.

   Where this was said

   Watch from 0:38:03 plays here

   ↗Demis Hassabis: Future of AI, Simulating Reality, Physics and Video Games | Lex Fridman Podcast #475youtube.com

   23 Jul 2025 · video · 2h 28m · spoken · official transcript

AI companies promote themselves around 'taste' because their products are unappealing outside tech circles.

1. Kyle Chayka 26 Mar 2026 Staff writer at The New Yorker A.I. companies need to associate themselves with taste precisely because their tools are not very palatable, much less cool, to anyone outside of Silicon Valley. ↗Why tech bros are obsessed with "taste"kylechayka.substack.com · 26 Mar 2026

   Their wordsA.I. companies need to associate themselves with taste precisely because their tools are not very palatable, much less cool, to anyone outside of Silicon Valley.

   ↗Why tech bros are obsessed with "taste"kylechayka.substack.com

   26 Mar 2026

Tech's embrace of 'taste' is an attempt to dress anti-humanist technology in humanist branding.

1. Kyle Chayka 26 Mar 2026 Staff writer at The New Yorker We might call what's going on now "taste-washing," an attempt to give anti-humanist technologies a veneer of liberal humanism. ↗Why tech bros are obsessed with "taste"kylechayka.substack.com · 26 Mar 2026

   Their wordsWe might call what's going on now "taste-washing," an attempt to give anti-humanist technologies a veneer of liberal humanism.

   ↗Why tech bros are obsessed with "taste"kylechayka.substack.com

   26 Mar 2026

The online ecosystem has become so degraded that it has impaired people's ability to exercise taste.

1. Kyle Chayka 26 Mar 2026 Staff writer at The New Yorker Another conclusion might be that the online ecosystem has become so polluted-so fragmented, deceptive, overstimulating, ersatz-that it has warped our ability to exercise taste at all. ↗Why tech bros are obsessed with "taste"kylechayka.substack.com · 26 Mar 2026

   Their wordsAnother conclusion might be that the online ecosystem has become so polluted-so fragmented, deceptive, overstimulating, ersatz-that it has warped our ability to exercise taste at all.

   ↗Why tech bros are obsessed with "taste"kylechayka.substack.com

   26 Mar 2026