Lagom means just enough
Lagom means just enough, measured against what the group needs. AI runs on the same idea: for about twenty euros a month, a skill that used to take years and money is open to anyone.
It is usually translated as "not too much, not too little." Just the right amount.
Swedes have a word for this: lagom. It is usually translated as "not too much, not too little." Just the right amount.
The word is more interesting than the lifestyle version suggests. Its roots are about the group. What counts as a fair share when something is passed around. What lets everyone get enough, and no one take too much.
Put into business, lagom makes a clear pattern. A product that is good enough for most people, cheap enough for most people, and available to most people. It avoids both luxury and junk.
AI uses the same approach, at a much bigger scale.
Skill that once took years and money, now available to almost anyone for a.
It is usually translated as "not too much, not too little." Just the right amount.
The word is more interesting than the lifestyle version suggests.
What counts as a fair share when something is passed around.
A subscription to a large language model costs about as much as a family music plan. For that, you get writing, summarising, and structuring that used to need a paid assistant or a junior copywriter.
So the basic level of competent work rises for everyone. And the cost of reaching that level drops to almost nothing.
This is a real gift. A kind of skill that used to take years to build, and money to buy, is now open to anyone for about twenty euros a month.
The word is more interesting than the lifestyle version suggests.
Skill that once took years and money, now available to almost anyone for a small monthly fee.
Lagom means just enough, measured against what the group needs. AI runs on the same idea: for about twenty euros a month, a skill that used to take years and money is open to anyone.
This is the short version. Read the full-length essay, “The Swedification of Everything”.
This issue is part of Everybody's Smart, a newsletter on taste, judgment, AI, culture, cognition, and the future of professional work. New issues every 2 to 3 weeks, free on LinkedIn.
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