https://tastemachines.com When everyone can make anything, the only question left is: what's worth making? Essays on AI, taste, and the future of creative work. By Mike Litman. en Wed, 05 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://tastemachines.com/essays/taste-is-all-thats-left.html https://tastemachines.com/essays/taste-is-all-thats-left.html Sat, 01 Mar 2026 08:00:00 +0000 AI tools have democratised creation. The bottleneck has shifted from "can you make it?" to "should you make it?" Taste is the last competitive advantage — the one thing machines cannot generate. mike@tastemachines.com (Mike Litman) https://tastemachines.com/essays/the-non-coders-manifesto.html https://tastemachines.com/essays/the-non-coders-manifesto.html Sun, 02 Mar 2026 08:00:00 +0000 We are not pretending to be developers. We are not cosplaying as engineers. We are a new category of maker — and the skills we bring are the ones that matter most. mike@tastemachines.com (Mike Litman) https://tastemachines.com/essays/curation-is-the-new-creation.html https://tastemachines.com/essays/curation-is-the-new-creation.html Mon, 03 Mar 2026 08:00:00 +0000 When content is infinite, selection becomes the art. The through-line from DJs to museum curators to AI prompters — and why curation is the creative skill of the future. mike@tastemachines.com (Mike Litman) https://tastemachines.com/essays/ai-wont-replace-strategists.html https://tastemachines.com/essays/ai-wont-replace-strategists.html Tue, 04 Mar 2026 08:00:00 +0000 Strategy is undervalued because everyone thinks they can do it. They cannot. AI is about to make that painfully clear — raising the floor while the ceiling stays exactly where it was. mike@tastemachines.com (Mike Litman) https://tastemachines.com/essays/the-taste-stack.html https://tastemachines.com/essays/the-taste-stack.html Wed, 05 Mar 2026 08:00:00 +0000 This is not a tutorial. It is a philosophy of tool selection as taste expression. Your stack is a statement about what you value — and mine tells you everything about how I think. mike@tastemachines.com (Mike Litman) https://tastemachines.com/essays/scoring-taste.html https://tastemachines.com/essays/scoring-taste.html Thu, 06 Mar 2026 08:00:00 +0000 Everyone says taste cannot be quantified. I have tried anyway. Here is what I learned about the tension between data and intuition — and why the best framework is one that makes you argue with it. mike@tastemachines.com (Mike Litman) https://tastemachines.com/essays/the-portfolio-career.html https://tastemachines.com/essays/the-portfolio-career.html Fri, 07 Mar 2026 08:00:00 +0000 The T-shaped person is dead. The future belongs to paint-splatter shaped people who refuse to be boxed into a single lane. Range is the new depth — and the portfolio is the only career that makes sense in 2026. mike@tastemachines.com (Mike Litman) https://tastemachines.com/essays/brands-need-curators.html https://tastemachines.com/essays/brands-need-curators.html Sat, 08 Mar 2026 08:00:00 +0000 The volume trap is killing brands. Posting five times a day with nothing to say is not a content strategy. Curation — knowing what NOT to publish — is the real editorial skill of the AI age. mike@tastemachines.com (Mike Litman) https://tastemachines.com/essays/death-of-the-agency-model.html https://tastemachines.com/essays/death-of-the-agency-model.html Sun, 09 Mar 2026 08:00:00 +0000 One person with AI tools can now deliver what used to take a team of fifty. The holding company model is a talent repellent. Small teams, studios, and solo practitioners are the future of creative services. mike@tastemachines.com (Mike Litman) https://tastemachines.com/essays/cultural-capital-is-the-new-currency.html https://tastemachines.com/essays/cultural-capital-is-the-new-currency.html Mon, 10 Mar 2026 08:00:00 +0000 Bourdieu for the algorithm age. Why some brands feel worth more than their revenue suggests, and why cultural capital compounds over time while marketing spend does not. mike@tastemachines.com (Mike Litman) https://tastemachines.com/essays/the-observer-advantage.html https://tastemachines.com/essays/the-observer-advantage.html Tue, 11 Mar 2026 08:00:00 +0000 Watchers see what doers miss. In a culture that rewards hustle and visibility, the quiet art of observation has become the most undervalued professional superpower. mike@tastemachines.com (Mike Litman) https://tastemachines.com/essays/building-in-public.html https://tastemachines.com/essays/building-in-public.html Wed, 12 Mar 2026 08:00:00 +0000 A strategy director who had never written code built 18 products with AI. This is the meta-essay about the journey — what worked, what didn't, and why taste is the only thing that matters when AI handles the execution. mike@tastemachines.com (Mike Litman)