Everybody's Smart Originality Economy Part 1 Jun 6, 2026

The fear: everything will look the same

Everyone fears AI will make all work look the same. The evidence is real. But a second effect runs the other way: the rare new thing stands out more, and travels further than ever.

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Originality Economy / Part 1 / 2 min / AI, Originality

SCQA dossier026

SituationWhen everyone uses the same models, outputs drift toward the same look.

ComplicationStudies show individual quality rises while the group's variety falls.

QuestionIs sameness the whole story?

AnswerNo. A second effect runs the other way: rare new ideas stand out more and travel further.

Here is the common worry about AI and creative work.

Here is the common worry about AI and creative work. Everyone uses the same few models. The models learned from the same data. So the work they help produce drifts toward the same look.

There is real evidence for this. One study gave writers an AI tool for story ideas. Each writer's story got better. But the stories also became more alike. Individual quality rose, and the group's variety fell.

You can feel this in practice too. Three agencies pitch the same client in the same week, and the decks rhyme.

So the fear is fair. If competent work is everywhere, sameness spreads.

No. A second effect runs the other way: rare new ideas stand out more.

Originality EconomyIssue 026Useful distinction

Here is the common worry about AI and creative work.

Here is the common worry about AI and creative work.

So the work they help produce drifts toward the same look.

One study gave writers an AI tool for story ideas.

Quote 01

But there is a second effect that runs the other way, and it gets almost no attention. It may matter more.

When most work looks the same, the rare thing that is actually new stands out more, not less. And it travels further than ever. This series is about that second effect, and what it means for your work.

Series index 1/7 Part 1 of 7 in Originality Economy: a compact issue for judgment-heavy and taste-led work.

So the work they help produce drifts toward the same look.

Everybody's SmartOriginality Economy

No. A second effect runs the other way: rare new ideas stand out more and travel further.

Everyone fears AI will make all work look the same. The evidence is real. But a second effect runs the other way: the rare new thing stands out more, and travels further than ever.

Longform

This is the short version. Read the full-length essay, “Creatives and AI: A New Economy of Originality”.