I had a very similar experience. I like to spend a lot of time making custom birthday gifts. Things like short videos of the person, stickers with their most-used lines, funny screenshots, mini-books with all great things about them, all very personal and time-consuming. Last Christmas I also painted more than 10 cards by hand - each one different, reflecting how I see that person or what I think they'd like.
The effort I put in for these gifts didn't matter only to them, but also to me. Because putting that time in made me feel closer to them, like "I feel like I really value you". The bond deepened because of that, just like you described it.
And on the handmade effect - very real. All handmade things will increase in value the more we move into this world where AI can generate anything. It's like with all things - the more scarce something is, the more value it has.
GenAI has not changed the wabi-sabi effect. “ a way of seeing the world that finds beauty and harmony in what is simple, imperfect, natural, modest and mysterious. The Japanese aesthetic of wabi-sabi describes things of imperfect beauty, of a certain roughness, often small things that might easily be overlooked.” as defined by Cambridge dictionary.
Thanks for sharing this story Jean-Paul, a very thought provoking read. Was really interesting to learn the economic thinking behind hand made products and how humans perceive them. Motivated me to embrace the wobble in 2026
Thanks Jean-Paul, a great read for me personally. Any kind of greeting card, whether it's written by AI, written by human, or hybrid of the two, signals care, and I'm always delighted to receive them. This article also made me think about the likelihood of a boom in handcrafted, human-made items, and it'll be really interesting to see how that pans out over the next twelve to eighteen months.
Agreed ! Not something at OpenAI move fast and break stuff scale ;) but still interesting businesses I am sure as more and more people will need (and value) those kind of signals !
Interesting--I'm still surprised something handwritten and also with a personal message would make someone think it's AI. As someone obsessed with thoughtful gift-giving, I usually browse through the person's social media to find their hobbies and try to gift-match after a ton of research (if I don't know them too well) --or remember obscure things from the past that were told to me. Given access to everyone's digital personas, it seems AI could also achieve this. I usually write a personal note saying.."I remember us having this conversation XXX and thought you'd like this" --maybe we'll have to sign off on all our greeting cards with some on-the-nose signals like this.
I had a very similar experience. I like to spend a lot of time making custom birthday gifts. Things like short videos of the person, stickers with their most-used lines, funny screenshots, mini-books with all great things about them, all very personal and time-consuming. Last Christmas I also painted more than 10 cards by hand - each one different, reflecting how I see that person or what I think they'd like.
The effort I put in for these gifts didn't matter only to them, but also to me. Because putting that time in made me feel closer to them, like "I feel like I really value you". The bond deepened because of that, just like you described it.
And on the handmade effect - very real. All handmade things will increase in value the more we move into this world where AI can generate anything. It's like with all things - the more scarce something is, the more value it has.
Wow it’s not AI blew my mind but Daria blew My Mind. Those friends of yours they are lucky to have you . I hope they realize it ! 🤗
that's so nice of you to say!🤗
GenAI has not changed the wabi-sabi effect. “ a way of seeing the world that finds beauty and harmony in what is simple, imperfect, natural, modest and mysterious. The Japanese aesthetic of wabi-sabi describes things of imperfect beauty, of a certain roughness, often small things that might easily be overlooked.” as defined by Cambridge dictionary.
Great comparison ! Let’s go wabi sabi :)
Thanks for sharing this story Jean-Paul, a very thought provoking read. Was really interesting to learn the economic thinking behind hand made products and how humans perceive them. Motivated me to embrace the wobble in 2026
Thanks for the kind words ! Awaiting your wobble then ;)
So interesting to see! It’s sad how ai has made everyone doubt the veracity of everything
That said, may be I just paid the price of being bullish with AI since 3 years…. be careful Joel ! 😂 but I think it’s coming for everyone anyway
Oh I think so. I actually think just like pottery today is marked handmade. I think one day content will be marked human-made as a badge of pride.
Thanks Jean-Paul, a great read for me personally. Any kind of greeting card, whether it's written by AI, written by human, or hybrid of the two, signals care, and I'm always delighted to receive them. This article also made me think about the likelihood of a boom in handcrafted, human-made items, and it'll be really interesting to see how that pans out over the next twelve to eighteen months.
Agreed ! Not something at OpenAI move fast and break stuff scale ;) but still interesting businesses I am sure as more and more people will need (and value) those kind of signals !
Interesting--I'm still surprised something handwritten and also with a personal message would make someone think it's AI. As someone obsessed with thoughtful gift-giving, I usually browse through the person's social media to find their hobbies and try to gift-match after a ton of research (if I don't know them too well) --or remember obscure things from the past that were told to me. Given access to everyone's digital personas, it seems AI could also achieve this. I usually write a personal note saying.."I remember us having this conversation XXX and thought you'd like this" --maybe we'll have to sign off on all our greeting cards with some on-the-nose signals like this.