Why write now?

I rarely navigate the internet without bumping into LLM-generated content. A simple search for throat pain relief generates summaries I never asked for and points me to websites made for bots rather than humans. Does anyone need a top 13 list of pain relievers?

At work we embrace AI maybe a little too much. I find myself proof-reading strategic documents that explain concepts so verbosely that their authors never bothered reading them. Even simple messages, email or Slack, regularly carry the handwriting of the model du jour. As if we don't trust ourselves with writing anymore.

Oddly, this flood of text has led me to rediscover blogs. I imagine their authors typing on clicking keyboards rather than dictating instructions to an LLM.

I have been reading their posts and musings with great joy, impressed by how concise the writing is, how fresh it sounds with all its imperfections that are not at all imperfect to me. They stand in stark contrast to the slop I read every day and make me feel more connected to the author.*

Now I want to write my own thoughts, somewhat coherently, on my own clicky keyboard. Foremost, to help sort my thinking. And one day, who knows, for others to read or even enjoy.

* This is not a black-and-white case against LLM-aided writing. For example, SmarterArticles describes how “AI” aids their writing process, and I enjoy reading their results.