Welcome to The New Mind Studio, your weekly space to connect, reflect and grow.
Anyone can generate content now. Not everyone can tell what's good.
This week we explore taste. What it is, why it matters now more than ever, and how to build it. This applies whether you create content, lead a team, or simply want to be more intentional about what you let into your life.
CONNECT
This week I saw a post that made me stop scrolling:
Entrepreneur and investor Paul Graham on: developing taste
When anyone can make anything, the big differentiator is what you choose to make. In other words: when output is cheap, taste becomes priceless.
Taste is your pattern of yes and no. Which books you finish, which tools you trust, which projects you commit years of your life to. We've long treated it as a byproduct of personality or upbringing. Right now, it's becoming a core skill.
In the AI age, three things have changed:
Creation is abundant. You can generate 100 logo variations, 10 landing pages, or 5 versions of a storyline in minutes.
Noise is overwhelming. Our feeds are full of competent, forgettable work, what some writers now call “AI slop.”
Differentiation moves upstream. The real value shifts from making to deciding: what deserves to exist, what you’re willing to stand behind, what feels alive.
Your taste is the filter that answers those questions. Unlike an algorithm, it's emotional, ethical, and yours alone.
REFLECT
Taste doesn't arrive as a sudden insight. It builds through attention: noticing what moves you, what doesn't, and being willing to say which is which.
Here are three practices that quietly sharpen your taste.
Adding "because" to every reaction.
"This song is great" tells you nothing. "I like this because the beat slows down right before the chorus and it makes you lean in". Now you're paying attention. You're seeing the decision behind the feeling. That's where taste lives. Not in the reaction. In the reason.
Comparing rather than just consuming.
Next time you watch two trailers for similar movies, don't just pick a favorite. Ask why: Which one made you feel something? Which one would you recommend to a friend? What specifically did that? One trailer shows the plot. The other makes you feel the stakes. That difference, that's taste working.
The same applies to anything AI generates for you. Ten drafts aren't useful because you have options. They're useful because somewhere in there is one that feels right. Your job is to find it and know why.Actually make something.
Write a birthday message for someone you love. Not a quick text, a real one. Suddenly, every greeting card you’ve ever ignored looks different. You notice the ones that feel generic. You feel the ones that don’t.
The same happens with AI. Generate a draft, then edit it. Move sentences around. Cut the flat parts. The moment you start shaping it, you stop being a passive reader. You become the one making decisions. Taste grows in the editing. Not the generating.
The more you make, compare, and question, the harder it becomes to settle for work that doesn't feel alive.
GROW
We all need both roles: creator and consumer.
With work changing quite a bit these days, that balance keeps you authentic and sane.
It's why I started posting on LinkedIn and writing this newsletter. My day job is fast and highly technical. Creating here is my counterweight.
As a creator, AI gives you more ideas than you can use. Without a filter, you default to whatever sounds flashy or trendy. Taste is that filter. It helps you build things that actually sound like you. You're making decisions, not just accepting output.
As a consumer, taste helps you close the tabs that don't serve you. You feel the difference between work that respects your attention and work that only wants your click. Reinvest that energy into what actually matters.
The best part? That sense of quality spreads.
What you praise, share, and defend tells the people around you what good looks like. On a team that might mean depth over speed. With your kids, it might mean slowing down over chasing the next shiny toy.
Every book you finish. Every project you commit to. Every AI draft you reshape is a small vote for the kind of work you want to see. And the kind of person you want to be.
When almost anything can be generated, a clear human point of view is still the rarest thing in the room.
Use that point of view to carry the change.
Warmly,
Nadia
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