I have been writing for a long time. Most of it is crap but it’s something I enjoy almost as much as reading. I’d like to think of myself as someone who cares about content over authorship; that, if the words ring true and speak to something that matters, it doesn’t matter who wrote them. Then, Generative AI came along and I don’t know what I’m about anymore.

For example, like many of you I read a lot of “Joel on Software“. He was an authentic voice in the world of tech. A voice that carried well-earned gravitas given his experience, talent, and success as a coder and a thought leader. I didn’t always agree with him, but, he was and is someone I respect and admire. When Joel has something to say I listen,  and if I’m honest, I listen because it’s Joel saying it.

What if Joel did not exist? What if this whole time “Joel on Software” was written by software? Would it diminish the value of his words? I don’t want to say yes but, again, if I’m honest, the answer is yes. I care about what Joel has to say because I respect and admire Joel. If Joel turned out to be an algorithm trained to barf out a steady stream of content it would matter a great deal to me.

This is not a blog post.

I am also someone building a business. One I intend to be successful. A box I need checked is regular social media content. I’m too much the artiste to spam LinkedIn with mindless garbage, but, what if AI could write quality blog content? That would also matter a great deal to me.

My level of comfort with that, given what I just said not one paragraph prior, is a bitter pill to swallow. As a consumer I’m rejecting algorithmic content I would otherwise be into based solely on how it was made. As a founder I’m willing to algorithmically generate content if it works for my business. I, the business owner, am perfectly willing to contribute to the thing causing what I, the consumer, am sad to see go.

The treachery of AI is that it casts doubt upon the authenticity of the expression of others. It disconnects us from other people, and, in place, connects us more deeply to the machine. Through doubt, it makes us feel like we’re connected to the machine even when we’re not.

And yet,

AI can be our pusherman. A purveyor of neverending delights for the wetware between our ears. A Big Bright Green Pleasure Machine. Why not create the automated means of delighting ourselves, of laboring for ourselves, of thinking for ourselves? “We are as Gods we might as well get good at it.”

Why not?

From now on, there will never be another “Joel on Software”. Not for me. There will never be writing you can trust was not shat out the ass-end of some slimy content farm. That doesn’t mean the content is not worth reading. It just means regardless of whether content is labeled as made by wetware or software, none of us can ever really trust again. We have shed our innocence. We got a brave new world in exchange.

I don’t know what it says about me that it matters these things are authentic, but, it matters to me these things are authentic.

And I am a little sad to see that go.

This is not a blog post.