# Implementation Is Cheap So Taste Becomes the Bottleneck When code generation is abundant, building something stops being the expensive part, and the scarce faculty becomes taste — knowing which of the many cheap outputs is actually good and worth shipping. ## Scope & conditions - Holds when generation is fast and plentiful enough that producing a candidate is no longer the constraint, so the work shifts from *making* to *choosing*. - "Taste" here means curation and direction — judging quality, fit, and intent — not error-checking. That distinguishes it from downstream review for correctness. - Breaks when the domain has no cheap-generation step yet, or when correctness (not quality) is the binding gate; there, verification still dominates and taste is secondary. ## Links - [[3. Resources/Permanent Notes/The Bottleneck Moved From Code Generation to Review and Judgment]] — because extends; that note locates the new bottleneck in review/verification, this one names the *selection* faculty (taste/curation) as the other half of the same shift - [[3. Resources/Permanent Notes/When Answers Are Cheap Understanding Becomes the Scarce Good]] — because extends; the general value-relocation law — cheap supply raises the premium on the judgment that discriminates among outputs - [[3. Resources/Permanent Notes/Abstracting Drudgery Re-Opens Creative Work to Non-Specialists]] — because applies-in product work; when implementation drudgery falls away, the differentiator is the curatorial judgment of what to build - [[3. Resources/Readwise/Articles/Strategy Before Software What Organizations Should Clarify Before Building]] — because evidence-for; a WordPress product-team case shows cheap implementation expanding the idea backlog while a stated mission filter decides what belongs in it. <!-- atomicity: 1 idea ✓ --> - [[3. Resources/MOCs/AI & the Future of Knowledge Work MOC]] — applies-in: the MOC lists this note under Judgment, review, and taste as the new bottleneck. - [[3. Resources/MOCs/Product & Startup Instincts MOC]] — applies-in: the MOC lists this note under Synthesis additions (2026-06-28 gap-fill).