Is there any way to get rid of this taskbar gap? It's driving me insane

Am I the only one who finds this gap between apps on the taskbar really annoying?

I genuinely don't understand why Microsoft made inactive tabs have a smaller highlight. It's already pretty obvious when an app isn't open—so why add a visual reminder that just wastes space?

I've been desperately searching for a way to remove this, but Google AI has been completely useless as always.