I don't care if AI helps you write
Welcome to The Treeline! The view clears here. Though I mostly keep a log of AI’s transformation of work, I occasionally write on adjacent topics.
Writing and speaking are acts of influence — your attempt to change other people’s behavior. I take whatever you say and write as your attempt to show up in the world and change things. I judge you for what that entails, not so much for your words and punctuation.
I don’t take what you say and write as a pure expression of your true self, whatever that means. So, I am not offended when your writing and speech carry patterns picked up from elsewhere.
You picked up writing and speech patterns from your mom, the biased one. And from your dad, the racist one. And from your 5th-grade teacher, the one who belittles her daughter. And from your pastor, the one who underpays his secretary. And from the trainer at the gym, the one who can’t see past your skin. And from your lack of protein at breakfast. And from the sinus infection that kept you awake all night. And the amount of lead paint in the window trim at your grandfather’s house. And a school district in 1980 that refused to fund the arts program at your elementary school. You and your actions are the nexus of a million imperfect lives and circumstances.
But, Jeremy, wouldn’t you care if a journalist used AI to report the news? I would care if they misreported the facts, whether or not they used AI.
But, Jeremy, wouldn’t you care if a job applicant used AI to write code they couldn’t write themselves? I would care if they couldn’t reliably reproduce it, the same way I would care if a teammate’s health declined and they could no longer perform their job.
But, Jeremy, don’t you care that the AI writer is lazy? Sometimes. I also care that you, too, are lazy sometimes, but I don’t dismiss you for it.
But Jeremy, wouldn't you care if a priest wrote with AI rather than divine inspiration? I would care if the priest's words led their congregation toward cruelty. That's what divine inspiration is supposed to prevent, and it's the only measure I have access to.
I care about what it is you want to do in the world and how you want to change it. I infer those from what you write and say, and from other behaviors. If AI or bad goat cheese gave you some of the words, I don’t care.
If AI’s transformation of work interests you, you can read about that here: