This is a theme I keep coming back to in my own writing. People are way too eager to let technology "do" things for them, as if the technology "doing" is the end result in and of itself.
I always ask "ok so you like this piece of technology... what are you going to do with the time it saves you?" If the answer is "nothing," you just made a bad trade.
Besides, executives of companies not even attending their own meetings is an embarrassingly stupid goal. If you don't want to work, don't be a CEO. If you don't want to write, don't write. Just go lay down and die.
Great summary. Just look at all the conveniences we already have at home: washing machine, dishwasher, cleaning robot. They were supposed to help save time. Do we have more of it? And even if we do, are we using it well?
another great article. And to the point: the process of creating is as important as the result itself.
All the AI tools we (humans) develop at the moment remind me of "Walt Disney's Fantasia" or Goethes Zauberlehrling ... it all starts with a nice idea - "Look what I can do!" and ends in craziness ...
Thanks for your insights and happy writing - kind regards
I think that using chatgpt as a sounding board, a virtual editor, rather than a ghost writer, can in fact help you become a better writer. This way you don't lose your writer identity.
ChatGPT has a different purpose. Yes, it can enhance your writing and make it more appealing to a certain audience, but the original text and the idea behind it should come from you.
This ties in nicely with the thesis behind Cal Newport’s Deep Work. Newport claims we live in a world where deep work generates outsized returns (due to the scalability of sociability of the internet), yet, it is as underutilized as ever. People love shallow work (emails, useless meetings discussing how to do the thing, etc.) because it’s easier than deep work. Likewise, people rely on AI to write and take their meetings, deluding themselves into thinking it is a viable replacement to humans and a “productivity hack”. You’re right on: there will soon come a time when creating genuinely as a human will become a skill few have.
Hahaha. I already tried to make a JackGPT and it didn’t go so well. Unfortunately, creativity and satire are not AI’s strong suits at the moment. Great work as always, Jack!
When AI agents mature they will be able to perform as human stand-ins. If the time saved can be channeled into "human" creativity it may be a win for society. Like any tool it can be abused or improperly managed. Let's hope it's always a human problem.
How do you see that leap happening? I mean, the leap from saving time to channelling energy into human creativity. Do humans get more creative when they save time by using AI agents? What is it about human creativity that makes it happen more, and what makes it happen less? I'm asking only because I'm curious about your thinking. It's something I wonder about a lot.
If you think of the developers of writing from parchment to factory produced paper to typewriters and then word processors to computers, each step has been both quicker and subject to less noise in the transmission of information.
Now we are subjecting billions of images to AI to determine everything from cats to diseases to protein structures. We are saving time on magnitudes hard to imagine.
Will we become more creative? I imagine so, as answers are becoming more instantaneous. Of course new questions will arise and perhaps the new answers will take more time than expected. Who knows?
Steve Jobs famously said that computers are like bicycles for the mind. AI appears to be a supersonic jet
I do believe that creativity requires rest. It's in those spaces and breaks away from the work, that we can digest and understand things, and that makes us ready to begin something with a fresh mind. Imho, that balance between activity and rest is a key to unlock creativity.
I think this expressed thoughts many of us feel in this moment. Sometimes I don't even know if I should respond to Teams or LinkedIn messages because if they were automated suggestions, I don't want to have a one.sided conversation with a machine. Anyway, if you don't know about it already, if love to recommend The Convivial Society by L.M Sacasas. It's a publication in here that emphasises the need to reclaim our humanity, so it doesn't get lost in tech
I'm interviewing several people on this topic and one thing that emerges is that for several people, especially on Substack, this is a topic they are aware of and very important. That is, ChatGPT is used mainly to generate ideas, to refine something, but never to write or do similar steeps. However, there are always more innovative ways that often do not emerge in analyzes that should be even more discovered. Thanks for sharing.
Apart from pure, theoretical content, real value comes from the connections between unlinked topics (as you pointed out) and in mixing theoretical and practical, hands-on experience. There is an insane amount of untapped value in what one has seen in their career or personal life.
Writing is thinking. ChatGPT is fantastic at refining writing and fine-tuning ideas, but the writing itself should not be outsourced to AI.
Sometimes. However sometimes it's fantastic at distracting us from what we wanted to say in our writing.
This: "Writing leads to clearer thinking because the act of writing reveals gaps in your reasoning. "
Well said.
Reading your works can also make apparent certain clichés, mistakes, and excessive stylistic embellishments.
This is a theme I keep coming back to in my own writing. People are way too eager to let technology "do" things for them, as if the technology "doing" is the end result in and of itself.
I always ask "ok so you like this piece of technology... what are you going to do with the time it saves you?" If the answer is "nothing," you just made a bad trade.
Besides, executives of companies not even attending their own meetings is an embarrassingly stupid goal. If you don't want to work, don't be a CEO. If you don't want to write, don't write. Just go lay down and die.
Great summary. Just look at all the conveniences we already have at home: washing machine, dishwasher, cleaning robot. They were supposed to help save time. Do we have more of it? And even if we do, are we using it well?
Hand up as someone who would not be into whatever world that Zoom CEO is envisioning. I mean, I find that idea to be pretty disturbing.
Sharp tool, dull human.
Hi Jack,
another great article. And to the point: the process of creating is as important as the result itself.
All the AI tools we (humans) develop at the moment remind me of "Walt Disney's Fantasia" or Goethes Zauberlehrling ... it all starts with a nice idea - "Look what I can do!" and ends in craziness ...
Thanks for your insights and happy writing - kind regards
Anthony
What do I have to do to be your cracked writer assistant?
TBH I have no idea
TBH, I have a lot of ideas (I will also quit my job). But, enough about me.
p.s. I’d love to chat.
Well written Jack! Writing is an art and I appreciate your summery statement that the work is just as valuable as the output! This redefines success!
Keep writing! Keep connecting the dots!
I think that using chatgpt as a sounding board, a virtual editor, rather than a ghost writer, can in fact help you become a better writer. This way you don't lose your writer identity.
ChatGPT has a different purpose. Yes, it can enhance your writing and make it more appealing to a certain audience, but the original text and the idea behind it should come from you.
This ties in nicely with the thesis behind Cal Newport’s Deep Work. Newport claims we live in a world where deep work generates outsized returns (due to the scalability of sociability of the internet), yet, it is as underutilized as ever. People love shallow work (emails, useless meetings discussing how to do the thing, etc.) because it’s easier than deep work. Likewise, people rely on AI to write and take their meetings, deluding themselves into thinking it is a viable replacement to humans and a “productivity hack”. You’re right on: there will soon come a time when creating genuinely as a human will become a skill few have.
Hahaha. I already tried to make a JackGPT and it didn’t go so well. Unfortunately, creativity and satire are not AI’s strong suits at the moment. Great work as always, Jack!
When AI agents mature they will be able to perform as human stand-ins. If the time saved can be channeled into "human" creativity it may be a win for society. Like any tool it can be abused or improperly managed. Let's hope it's always a human problem.
How do you see that leap happening? I mean, the leap from saving time to channelling energy into human creativity. Do humans get more creative when they save time by using AI agents? What is it about human creativity that makes it happen more, and what makes it happen less? I'm asking only because I'm curious about your thinking. It's something I wonder about a lot.
If you think of the developers of writing from parchment to factory produced paper to typewriters and then word processors to computers, each step has been both quicker and subject to less noise in the transmission of information.
Now we are subjecting billions of images to AI to determine everything from cats to diseases to protein structures. We are saving time on magnitudes hard to imagine.
Will we become more creative? I imagine so, as answers are becoming more instantaneous. Of course new questions will arise and perhaps the new answers will take more time than expected. Who knows?
Steve Jobs famously said that computers are like bicycles for the mind. AI appears to be a supersonic jet
I do believe that creativity requires rest. It's in those spaces and breaks away from the work, that we can digest and understand things, and that makes us ready to begin something with a fresh mind. Imho, that balance between activity and rest is a key to unlock creativity.
Totally agree
I think this expressed thoughts many of us feel in this moment. Sometimes I don't even know if I should respond to Teams or LinkedIn messages because if they were automated suggestions, I don't want to have a one.sided conversation with a machine. Anyway, if you don't know about it already, if love to recommend The Convivial Society by L.M Sacasas. It's a publication in here that emphasises the need to reclaim our humanity, so it doesn't get lost in tech
I hadn't thought of AI this way, I am terrified of it making me unemployable, but then I make that more possible everytime I let it think for me
I'm interviewing several people on this topic and one thing that emerges is that for several people, especially on Substack, this is a topic they are aware of and very important. That is, ChatGPT is used mainly to generate ideas, to refine something, but never to write or do similar steeps. However, there are always more innovative ways that often do not emerge in analyzes that should be even more discovered. Thanks for sharing.
Apart from pure, theoretical content, real value comes from the connections between unlinked topics (as you pointed out) and in mixing theoretical and practical, hands-on experience. There is an insane amount of untapped value in what one has seen in their career or personal life.
As usual my 2 cents :)