AI Curiosity Tax
In typically British fashion, I’d say I'm pretty average in many ways on many things.
But one area I am delighted to be above average is curiosity. I have an insatiable need to test new things out, to understand how they work, to tug on threads and dive down rabbit holes. It's part of why I love my job: I get to spend time with highly motivated, exceptionally talented people who are building companies often in spaces I have no idea about. It’s also why I “waste” a lot of time. I want to learn how it all works, how it all fits together and why it all matters.
AI has been a boon in many ways to people wired like me - so much "newness". New terminology, new technology, new business models, new paradigms, new products and services, new heroes, new villains. And it's all moving at a hundred miles per hour. In some ways that's great. I - and other nerds - can dive into a different domain of complete novelty every day and never come close to running out of stuff.
In other ways, though, it's taxing. Mentally taxing, because there's so much to learn and understand. Emotionally taxing, because I want to make sure I'm not missing out on a key kernel of truth in this new world. Temporally taxing, because it takes a long time to get under the skin of things, even with the help of ChatGPT and Gemini - let alone then testing all the products and services being launched. And financially taxing, because signing up for the things that deliver "Holy shit" moments like ChatGPT, Gemini Pro, Granola, Lovable, Wispr Flow, etc. gets expensive. The jury may still be out on the extent to which software eats human labour budgets, but there's no question at all that it's eating my entertainment budget.
The theory behind taxes, though, is that they deliver some communal and individual benefit, both in the short and long run, and that applies here too. Of course, some of it truly is wasted. But at least some of it is an investment in the future.
In the long-run, straining my brain will pay dividends in terms of expanded understanding, mental bandwidth and neuroplasticity. The money I’m spending today is giving signals to the market on what is - and isn’t - valuable to build. The productivity gains I’m getting are being recycled into more output - more founder meetings, more writing, more thinking. And the broader perspectives, I hope, are helping me as a capital allocator better understand interesting places where capital can be funnelled to create new products and services that make people’s lives easier and better.
For those reasons, I’m happy to pay. It’s costing a lot, but the benefits are there. Pay up: I really recommend it.