The language of “good taste” makes taste sound like a gift: an instinct some people possess and others do not. A more useful definition is curation—the ability to see a landscape of possibilities, decide what matters, and select what is right for the audience you want to reach.
That definition separates taste from craft. Craft determines what you can make; taste determines what should exist. AI lowers the craft barrier and widens the possibility space, but it can also quietly make the decisions where taste lives. The opportunity is to use AI to explore more directions without outsourcing selection.
What this essay explores
- Define taste relative to an audience instead of universal rules or tastemaker approval.
- Separate knowing what should exist from having the craft required to create it.
- Use critique to study alignment and misalignment between personal preference and audience response.
- Let AI widen the possibility space without letting model defaults determine the final form.
- Strengthen taste through a repeated cycle of experience, interrogation, comparison, and creation.
Useful critique asks two separate questions: Do I like this, and does the audience I care about like it?
Key takeaway
Taste is not a fixed gift. It is the judgment you build by exploring widely, choosing deliberately, and learning where your instincts align with an audience—or don’t.
