When quality converges at the AI plateau, differentiation no longer comes from what was produced. It comes from who produced it — and whether that origin can be verified. The scarcity shifts from output quality to authentic human engagement, which becomes a premium signal. Full analysis: https://businessengineer.ai/p/the-ai-quality-plateau
1. The Core Concept: A Perpendicular Competitive Axis
Once AI can produce high-quality content endlessly and cheaply, quality becomes a commodity. The new axis of competition becomes:
Authenticity × Human Verification
Not: “Is this good?” But: “Was this made by a human — and can you prove it?”
This unlocks a new form of value: High quality + verified human origin = premium.
When everyone has access to the same tools, the scarce resource becomes genuine human engagement, not output itself.
2. Where This Premium Already Exists
This isn’t hypothetical. The premium already shows up in sectors AI hasn’t even touched deeply yet:
• Handcrafted vs machine-made goods The premium is for “made by a real artisan,” not the object.
• Live performances vs recorded ones Presence commands value.
• Personal professional attention vs automated alternatives Humans pay more when accountability and empathy matter.
• Original art with provenance vs reproductions Uniqueness + verifiable authorship creates market value that copies cannot replicate.
This is the early pattern of a much larger shift.
3. The New Scarcity: Proof of Human Engagement
The AI plateau creates infinite supply of acceptable-quality output — pushing marginal price to zero. A new scarcity emerges:
Verified human origin.
It’s not enough to be good; you must be: – recognizably human – verifiably human – valued because you are human
This is a structural inversion: Quality becomes abundant. Authenticity becomes scarce.
Work without proof of human involvement collapses toward commodity pricing.
4. The Hard Limitation: Authenticity Is Expensive to Verify
Authenticity has the same fundamental problem as organic food or fair trade labels:
Verification costs money. And fake authenticity is cheap.
To sustain a premium, markets will build infrastructure around verification:
– provenance tracking – signatures and blockchain trails – creative-process documentation – reputation and certification systems – human-in-the-loop guarantees
But these add friction. Most workers won’t be able to afford the time or cost of establishing verified human origin.
The authenticity premium will save some — not most.
5. Why This Matters Strategically
As the AI plateau rises, two things collapse:
Quality Differentiation If AI can do “good enough,” human-created “good enough” has no price floor.
Volume Differentiation AI beats humans on quantity and consistency.
This pushes all competition toward a single differentiator: origin + intention + human connection.
But not everyone can (or should) attempt to play in the authenticity market. It’s a strategic choice — and a narrow one.
6. Strategic Question
Can you make your human origin intrinsically part of your value proposition?
Examples where the answer is yes: – therapy, coaching, teaching – leadership, negotiation, conflict resolution – original artistic work with verifiable process – roles requiring accountability or moral judgment – community-driven creation
Examples where the answer is likely no: – routine writing – basic design – simple coding – repetitive production tasks – analysis without judgment
Authenticity must be more than “a human was involved.” It must be: the reason the product is valuable at all.
Gennaro is the creator of FourWeekMBA, which reached about four million business people, comprising C-level executives, investors, analysts, product managers, and aspiring digital entrepreneurs in 2022 alone | He is also Director of Sales for a high-tech scaleup in the AI Industry | In 2012, Gennaro earned an International MBA with emphasis on Corporate Finance and Business Strategy.
