Do we actually crave human-made things or the stories behind them?

Scarcity has always played a role in desirability. And in a time where perfection is becoming easier and faster to produce, genuine human care stands out more clearly than ever.

I spent a rainy Saturday morning vintage hunting at Marché aux Puces de Vanves in Paris a few weeks ago. After wandering around the market for a while, I came across a colorful painting from the 80s. It wasn’t necessarily perfect. In fact, II saw many people walk right past it. But I immediately wanted to know more. Who painted it? Where had it lived before? What was it trying to tell me?

The story became part of the desirability. Had there not been one, I doubt the painting would now be hanging in my home.

I thought about that after the Kauas Creative x ABL-Laatat panel discussion last week, where we gathered people from architecture, media, design and AI to discuss craftsmanship in the age of artificial intelligence. Because, as we discussed in the panel, we are living in a time where producing polished perfection is becoming remarkably easy.

Beautiful imagery, aesthetically pleasing spaces, clean branding and technically impressive content can now be generated faster and cheaper than ever before. AI is already part of how we work, and honestly, much of that efficiency is welcome. Very few people genuinely want to spend more time on repetitive work, and neither do I. But as production becomes easier, something else is standing out more clearly: meaning. Not flawlessness or volume, but something deeper. The story.

One of our panelists, Interior Architect Maiju Koskela from Studio Puisto, put it beautifully:

“For me, it’s the human decision to be intentional. Because in the end, luxury isn’t about everything that is possible. It’s about what is meaningful.”

That idea stayed with me throughout the weekend. Because the value of craftsmanship is not ultimately about whether something is completely untouched by technology. It’s about whether something feels considered. Whether there is intention, perspective, soul, and care behind it. And that’s why stories suddenly matter more too.

You see, if the gallery selling my painting uses AI tools in accounting or logistics, it doesn’t make a difference to me. But if the artwork itself had been generated purely from algorithmically optimized trends and search terms, most of the emotional connection, the magic, would disappear immediately.
Not because AI is inherently bad. I don’t believe it is. (In fact, I believe we as human beings are so deeply programmed to pursue development, there’s no point fighting it.) But because stories are part of how humans think and feel.

Linnéa Pesonen from Vogue Scandinavia touched on something similar during the discussion. Audiences are becoming exhausted by endless visual perfection. Beauty still matters, of course, she reflected. But increasingly, people seem to be looking for emotional connection, individuality and perspective instead of polished emptiness. That’s why we see a growing interest in homes that feel lived-in, Linnéa pointed out.

Understanding that shift is crucial, especially when working with premium and luxury industries.

Firstly, we humans rarely fall for perfection alone. In a matter of fact, for the longest time, we have been obsessed with stories, hearing them, coming up with them, sharing them. We are pulled to stories and meaning, because they make things unique, intriguing, and precious.

Secondly, intense level of consideration and care is coming rare, and that’s why we want it. We desire things that feel like someone created them with genuine intention. The brands, spaces and experiences people remember rarely feel accidental. Someone has paid attention and made decisions carefully. Someone has created a world and invited us into it.

That level of consideration is becoming increasingly rare, and rarity has always been one of the foundations of desirability.

The discussion and its themes were later covered by Vogue Scandinavia in an article exploring What is luxury in 2026?