Agalia Tan

Applying universal logic gives our experiences a certain weight and our lives a certain order. I assume this is why we’re so drawn to recasting our life stories into tidy narratives and lessons to be shared with others. But in doing this we risk underestimating chaos, nuance, idiosyncrasy, and the occasional dose of self-delusion.

One of the misconceptions about AI is that it reduces the need for expertise. The opposite is true.

LLMs operate in a vast space of linguistic possibility: every word you input shapes what comes next. Ask it to write about walking through a city and you’ll get a generic response. But ask it to explore urban wandering in the style of Walter Benjamin... See more

"The end of a melody is not its goal."

That's the thing. We're not a brand. We're not a company. We're human beings. Of course it's going to change every 30 seconds. We're following our lives.

Taste is the bone-deep feeling that you’ve made something good. It is a sense, inexplicable and ephemeral. But it’s also a tangible skill that’s increasingly essential. Taste is how a business differentiates itself when attention is scarce and choice is abundant. Knowing what to make is just as important as the ability to make it.

There’s an even b... See more