Rahul Singh

Back in 2014, I spent an entire day trying to remove someone from the background of a photo for a college fest poster. Just one person. One background. One day gone.

This morning, I did the same thing in two minutes. With a prompt. Didn’t even open Photoshop.

I’ve always loved designing. Posters, interfaces, mockups, whatever. Any excuse to make things look better, I’d jump in. I didn’t know back then that this habit would become such a big part of my life.

And here’s what’s wild, the easier it gets to create stuff, the more valuable the skill of creation becomes.

Not because others can’t create, but because most people stop at decent. When everyone’s using the same tools, the differentiator is how you use them. If you can design, code, write, and you also know how to prompt well, you’re not just efficient. You’re dangerous.

Creation is just turning an idea into something people can actually see or use. Earlier that was carpentry or pottery. Today, it’s Figma and code editors.

If you can code, you can whip up an MVP in a few hours. If you can design, you can translate an abstract thought into a screen that makes people go ohh. That’s power. That’s speed. That’s leverage.

And speed matters. A lot. Especially when you’re testing ideas, explaining concepts, or building something scrappy. You don’t want to wait on a dev friend or a design agency. You just want to build it, show it, move on.

But even that’s not enough now.

Because once you’ve got the tools and the speed, the next edge is taste.

Taste is underrated. Taste is hard. It’s knowing what people will vibe with. Not just what looks good, but what feels right. What will stick. And this is where AI falls flat. Its suggestions are safe, average, regurgitated.

Taste is what separates the “meh” from the “damn.” It can’t be prompted. It comes from paying attention. To culture. To people. To timing.

So here’s the new loop:

You get an idea → you throw it at ChatGPT or Midjourney → get back 10 versions → 8 are trash, 2 are maybe → and then you bring the taste, the edits, the direction → you refine, ship, repeat.

You might think, “Do I even need to learn to code or design or write anymore?”
Yes. Because those rough edges? People notice them. The bar for “first draft” is higher than ever. You don’t just need to launch fast, you need to launch good.

And when everyone is using the same tools, your skills, and your taste, are what make your work undeniable.