a16z: What is really scarce in the AI era is not “temporal”, but rather a social infrastructure for judgement

On August 27, a16z partner Tim Sullivan wrote that with AI ' s significant reduction in content production costs, the proliferation of "slop" and the moral panic surrounding AI is not new, and that historically, from Grub Street, cheap newspapers, popular novels to television, blogs and social media, every drop in production costs has led to a large amount of low-cost content and similar cultural controversy. The article refers to social science studies that suggest that "temperature" is not a single ability, but may include different mechanisms such as success judgement, cross-circle access to information, and long-term training for professional judgement. Studies at Columbia University have shown that social impact and path dependence significantly affect whether or not a work can eventually become a bomb, making it difficult for even experts to predict the real success. The article also cites the sociologist Ron Burt's "structural hole" theory that people who are truly able to innovate are often located between different communities and have unique perspectives through cross-circle contacts. AI has quick access to information in different fields, but it is difficult to replace entirely the hidden knowledge, trust and experience accumulated by human hands in multiple social networks. Sullivan believes that after AI becomes universal, the more important role of human beings may shift to validation and judgement, which needs to be nurtured through apprenticeships, feedback and long-term practice. If an enterprise weakens the training system by replacing a junior position with AI, it can reduce costs in the short term, but may lead to a future shortage of skilled people with mature judgement. Thus, it is not " taste" per se that may really become scarce in the AI era, but rather the development of good judgement, networks and social infrastructure。