Aloha Rick… It’s funny, we finally built machines that can write anything, and the first thing we did was make everything sound like the same mildly competent LinkedIn post. Also, I’ll admit: I always assumed “pompous and labored” was a deliberate part of your brand.
…oh how i wish i could be paid to labor pompously…i’m with your wife on the couch, knowing so many of the same writers you do from that ‘ol enthusiasm incubator, nothing made me sadder than during the final cohort sniffinf out well over 70% of the personal essays I was editing were “ai assisted”…it is really sad to see someone lose a voice before they gain one…fwiw i know a handful of these folks who have recently abandoned an ai workflow because they saw how far they had gotten from themself…i heard a slop song playing a drunken poolside hedonistic champagne bath and felt comfortable that this was its rightful home, somewhere forgotten easily with regret surrounded by the distraction of endless loss and distraction…
I can't read AI text. It makes my eyes slide off the screen. This is especially a problem at my job because we are encouraged to generate more and more text (and code) using AI.
My eyes glaze over. I just lose interest in... uh, *staying awake*. Part of the problem is, everything has a little AI-generated summary these days. Sure, maybe you can easily generate text and stick it in every nook and crevice -- but the judicious decision of whether or not to say *anything at all* is far too valuable, but given far too little thought.
It's like eating cardboard. Not only is there no nutritional value -- there isn't even any *taste*.
Thanks, Rick…I thought I had peeved you…not sure of the context of your featuring my comment to your writing. I followed up on it and it seems I am still in your good graces…Whew! (from W.E.W.) Real, not AI.
Aloha Rick… It’s funny, we finally built machines that can write anything, and the first thing we did was make everything sound like the same mildly competent LinkedIn post. Also, I’ll admit: I always assumed “pompous and labored” was a deliberate part of your brand.
…oh how i wish i could be paid to labor pompously…i’m with your wife on the couch, knowing so many of the same writers you do from that ‘ol enthusiasm incubator, nothing made me sadder than during the final cohort sniffinf out well over 70% of the personal essays I was editing were “ai assisted”…it is really sad to see someone lose a voice before they gain one…fwiw i know a handful of these folks who have recently abandoned an ai workflow because they saw how far they had gotten from themself…i heard a slop song playing a drunken poolside hedonistic champagne bath and felt comfortable that this was its rightful home, somewhere forgotten easily with regret surrounded by the distraction of endless loss and distraction…
I can't read AI text. It makes my eyes slide off the screen. This is especially a problem at my job because we are encouraged to generate more and more text (and code) using AI.
My eyes glaze over. I just lose interest in... uh, *staying awake*. Part of the problem is, everything has a little AI-generated summary these days. Sure, maybe you can easily generate text and stick it in every nook and crevice -- but the judicious decision of whether or not to say *anything at all* is far too valuable, but given far too little thought.
It's like eating cardboard. Not only is there no nutritional value -- there isn't even any *taste*.
‘Pompous and laboured’?! Nope!
I saw your note shared and didn’t realise it was yours until just now. Very well said.
Thanks, Rick…I thought I had peeved you…not sure of the context of your featuring my comment to your writing. I followed up on it and it seems I am still in your good graces…Whew! (from W.E.W.) Real, not AI.
Wow, that’s a huge volume of comments. Come to think of it, I can’t think of anyone better placed to reply to 1400 comments!
Love the calling out of the other writers here, Rick. That’s a wonderful touch.
Well, folks haven't needed machines to churn out crap since ever. But, man, the speed of craptastic content production is new.
I find genAI to be incredibly useful for some tasks, but writing should be writing; not an LLM combining words based on a prediction algorithm.
"Pompous and Labored" sounds like a good bar band name and/or a tagline ;)
Hey Rick,
You hit a nerve with that note.
We're all sick of the slop diet :)