Response to Grace's 'Design That Matters II' ​

Your post raises many interesting high-level questions about how value is measured, as well as how it can be evaluated against the cost of its creation. I agree with your concerns regarding generative AI-- looking at these technologies through a lens of VSD is challenging as it seems like there are limitless applications and stakeholders to consider. In addition, looking at past technological paradigm shifts, like the creation of the internet, simply goes to show how we are still grappling with its long-term implications, unintended consequences, and "downstream value" like you mentioned.

Your question of whether it is enough that a service/product itself creates value is interesting. I think this alludes to the difference between invention and innovation, that is, how manipulation of inventions are used to create a marketable product. I think that the concept of innovation is tied directly to your definition of "artificial value". This raises a related question: is it the responsibility of a company to not only sell an invention but also manage and oversee its downstream value and consequences? Or does its responsibility extend only to a moral duty of creating a product, leaving it to consumers to determine its value?

Your point regarding the value versus costs tradeoff made me wonder how companies are being rewarded or harmed by their ethical practices. One study found that consumers' knowledge of negative ethical practices have more weight in their willingness to pay than knowledge of positive knowledge. Negative information was observed to have almost twice the impact on them than positive information. While not directly tied to the value of the product itself, it's interesting to see how consumers might characterize a company based on their public impact or social image.

Overall, I enjoyed your blog post and think that it takes an insightful look at the fundamentals of value creation, and raises many important questions surrounding the interdependence of value on both producers and consumers!