Less Effort, Less Value? Rethinking What Makes a Work Powerful

One of the most common criticisms of AI-generated art is this: “If something is made quickly, it’s worth less.” As if struggle is a requirement for meaning. As if the more an artist suffers, the more valuable the result.

Maybe that made sense for a long time. But things are shifting.

Value = effort?

We’ve always admired visible effort. Cathedrals built over decades. Marble sculptures shaped millimetre by millimetre. Murals that took years. Part of their power is imagining the person behind them — the exhaustion, the obsession, the devotion.

That logic held for centuries. But now, with tools like AI, we can create stunning results in hours. Sometimes minutes.

Does that make them worse? Or just… different?

A train ride isn’t worth less than walking

Picture two people traveling between cities. One walks for weeks. The other takes a train.

Who had the more “authentic” journey? Who deserves to arrive?

AI is that train. It doesn’t erase your vision, or your choices. It just gets you there faster.

And sometimes, that means you get to explore more once you’ve arrived.

Time is no longer the only metric

With AI, technical steps can be accelerated. Repetitive work can be automated. That opens up space for what actually matters — the concept, the message, the core of what you’re trying to say.

It’s not about doing less. It’s about doing with more clarity. More direction.

More freedom to go deep.

What if the effort has shifted?

Not all effort is physical. Thinking takes energy. So does choosing.

AI can suggest, offer, generate — but it’s still your eye that decides.

Your judgement. Your sense of what works and what doesn’t.

That’s where the real work lives.

And no machine can fake that — at least not yet.

What comes next?

In the final chapter, we’ll dive into something unavoidable: ethical responsibility.

Because yes, AI can be an incredible tool — but it also raises questions. About originality. About authorship. About respect for the work of others.

That’s where we’ll close this journey.