It is not a taste engine — it is an execution engine.
The most common mistake I see operators make in 2026: treating AI as if it were a taste engine. It is not. It is an execution engine. That distinction changes how you build, hire, and review.
Draft in progress
What this essay will cover.
Working notes from the UNSW guest lecture, being expanded into a full piece. The argument outline:
- The category error — when operators ask the model "is this good?" they're testing taste; the model is answering with execution.
- Why the model's execution is genuinely transformative — token‑per‑dollar economics, judgement‑free completion, infinite patience for the boring half of the work.
- Why its taste is unreliable — taste is calibration to a specific audience, not a universal property; the model averages where you need precision.
- The practical implication: stop asking the model "is this any good?" and start asking it to execute against a target you've already calibrated yourself.
- How this changes hiring — taste is now the senior contribution; execution is no longer a moat.
— Full essay coming. Reach out if you want the early version.
— Lucas, April 2026 · drawn from the UNSW BIS guest lecture, April 2026 edition