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Humans as 'luxury goods' in the age of AI
Most people think curation is just about organizing and categorizing ; putting things in order so that they can easily be browsed.
But curation is really about deciding what to elevate and what to exclude .
But curation is really about deciding what to elevate and what to exclude .
Sangeet Paul Choudary • Humans as 'luxury goods' in the age of AI
Elite curation - which really commands economic value - is less about matching preferences and more about shaping them in your favour.
That comes only through narrative control. You choose what to elevate and what to exclude and you then get to tell the story of why that curation matters
That comes only through narrative control. You choose what to elevate and what to exclude and you then get to tell the story of why that curation matters
Sangeet Paul Choudary • Humans as 'luxury goods' in the age of AI
A well-framed inquiry concentrates resources and points effort toward high-leverage targets
Sangeet Paul Choudary • Humans as 'luxury goods' in the age of AI
constrained, targeted curiosity
The rise of the ‘Luxury Worker’
The luxury worker does not compete on volume.
They do not scale by adding headcount.
They scale by increasing the perceived value of their participation. Their work is expensive not because it takes longer, but because it carries the weight of curiosity, curation, and judgment.
In many ways, this inverts the usual... See more
The luxury worker does not compete on volume.
They do not scale by adding headcount.
They scale by increasing the perceived value of their participation. Their work is expensive not because it takes longer, but because it carries the weight of curiosity, curation, and judgment.
In many ways, this inverts the usual... See more
Sangeet Paul Choudary • Humans as 'luxury goods' in the age of AI
it’s no longer products, but humans who are into the status signalling business
This is curation - where taste and context exert narrative control
Sangeet Paul Choudary • Humans as 'luxury goods' in the age of AI
In an attention-scarce world, curation is a way to exert power through narrative control.
Why does curation have power? Quite simply - because it works through elevating something and excluding something else.
Why does curation have power? Quite simply - because it works through elevating something and excluding something else.
Sangeet Paul Choudary • Humans as 'luxury goods' in the age of AI
Context is often misunderstood as ‘local knowledge’. ‘Local knowledge’ is not really an advantage. It’s just a data arbitrage. You’ve better than AI only because it doesn’t yet have the data you’re working with.
Context is more about interpretation. The ability to create meaning in a certain context by understanding the context and applying the... See more
Context is more about interpretation. The ability to create meaning in a certain context by understanding the context and applying the... See more
Sangeet Paul Choudary • Humans as 'luxury goods' in the age of AI
When access to knowledge is no longer scarce, the constraint shifts from getting answers to framing the right questions.
Sangeet Paul Choudary • Humans as 'luxury goods' in the age of AI
AI dismantles that constraint. In many domains, what was historically a competitive advantage now becomes tablestakes. The economic value of knowledge goes down, not because the intrinsic value of knowledge has changed but because its supply has dramatically increased.
Sangeet Paul Choudary • Humans as 'luxury goods' in the age of AI
AI has changed knowledge economics. Previously knowledge was assumed to be relatively expensive to acquire and difficult to distribute, but now it’s table stakes - accessible to all.
It impacts the knowledge value chain: curiosity > knowledge > curation > judgement
Curiosity creates the inquiry.
Knowledge populates the options.
Curation filters the right ones through.
Judgment makes the final call.
When knowledge becomes abundant, value migrates to the functions that exist upstream and downstream from it: framing the inquiry and acting on the output.
In this new architecture, curiosity, curation, and judgment create real advantage.