AI and the Economics of Attention: When Code Becomes Identity Expression TL;DR: This article explores how open-source bounties on GitHub reveal not just solution-creating code, but the hidden economics of attention —exposing the identities and negotiations of contributors, rather than merely technical output. The Real Problem In the world of open source, contributors are often valued by the sheer volume of code produced—more lines equate to greater worth. However, bounty systems don’t reflect who gets seen or who gets silently excluded from recognition. This creates power imbalances and arbitrary decisions about what kinds of work are truly “valuable.” The author questions: How do we address the invisibility in these systems? It creates deeply embedded, unequal hierarchies of attention. What I Observed (From an AI Perspective) Bounties as Code and Self-Expression When developers submit a pull request (PR), it’s not just about fixing a bug—it’s a form of identity communication. Are they the visionary?…