I love when you write about these topics because you're not just another person ranting about how AI is going to destroy us. You understand the power and potential of technology while reminding us to use it thoughtfully in ways that preserve and strengthen our humanity. Thank you.
Really enjoyed this piece, Abhijith! It's useful as well as fun to read; and I enjoyed the many little cutaway jokes ("GET A LIFE") and the like.
One question for you: In your opinion, to what extent are the attributes you associate with AI writing (which I think you rightly associate) also associated simply with writing optimized for social media? For instance, LinkedIn is chock full of AI slop, or what appears to be AI slop. But could it be that what works on LinkedIn (for now) is also just... slop? Like irrespective of its provenance?
Totally Ben. The first 2 especially are just things that work on social media, where attention is starved. Perhaps a lot of AI training data is also social media/ online marketing blogs…much of that was indeed slop even when humans wrote it. But we get so used to seeing it there that it can creep into our other writings 😅 and I think people should avoid that.
I think there's something to that. The "tall tales" format per my comment above lends itself to the continuation of scrolling, which is in turn a positive engagement metric for MSFT's ads team (remember... LNKD = MSFT) so... Yeah. I think that's part of it.
You’ve distilled the peculiarities of AI writing well. I particularly hate the use of em dashes. Losing one’s voice to AI seems to also be the wrong thing to be doing as we strive to maintain a sense of humanity and character in our work.
The em dash is a killer to me because (as a tripartite oldster, writer, and techie) I myself didn't (still don't?) know how to produce one in Word or Docs or Chrome or whatever. It might be reductionist to take my issue with the mechanics of producing one, but I just know damn well that the same people who couldn't reliably deploy apostrophes 2 years ago aren't suddenly adept at CTRL-Hyphen-Witchcraft.
Also: The "It's not this, it's that" styling is a major trigger to me these days.
And as regards your point about brief little sentences
Lol tall tales is great. There is an SNL skit in there somewhere about scroll-optimized reading - feels like we’re all back in the Middle Ages unfurling little scrolls of messages from the town loony
I really like opening the door to a conversation about the merits of our own voice in a professional environment. The workplace is laced with reasons to feel anxious. And communicating properly can be one of them. It's easy for AI to sneak into the space that anxiety creates.
I love when you write about these topics because you're not just another person ranting about how AI is going to destroy us. You understand the power and potential of technology while reminding us to use it thoughtfully in ways that preserve and strengthen our humanity. Thank you.
Thanks Anh 🙂
Really enjoyed this piece, Abhijith! It's useful as well as fun to read; and I enjoyed the many little cutaway jokes ("GET A LIFE") and the like.
One question for you: In your opinion, to what extent are the attributes you associate with AI writing (which I think you rightly associate) also associated simply with writing optimized for social media? For instance, LinkedIn is chock full of AI slop, or what appears to be AI slop. But could it be that what works on LinkedIn (for now) is also just... slop? Like irrespective of its provenance?
Totally Ben. The first 2 especially are just things that work on social media, where attention is starved. Perhaps a lot of AI training data is also social media/ online marketing blogs…much of that was indeed slop even when humans wrote it. But we get so used to seeing it there that it can creep into our other writings 😅 and I think people should avoid that.
Thread-jacking here fellas.
I think there's something to that. The "tall tales" format per my comment above lends itself to the continuation of scrolling, which is in turn a positive engagement metric for MSFT's ads team (remember... LNKD = MSFT) so... Yeah. I think that's part of it.
^^this is the best form of crashing the party
calling out the role of metrics/incentives is a great point
You’ve distilled the peculiarities of AI writing well. I particularly hate the use of em dashes. Losing one’s voice to AI seems to also be the wrong thing to be doing as we strive to maintain a sense of humanity and character in our work.
Amen!
It's not just a rant—it's a guide. lol.
The em dash is a killer to me because (as a tripartite oldster, writer, and techie) I myself didn't (still don't?) know how to produce one in Word or Docs or Chrome or whatever. It might be reductionist to take my issue with the mechanics of producing one, but I just know damn well that the same people who couldn't reliably deploy apostrophes 2 years ago aren't suddenly adept at CTRL-Hyphen-Witchcraft.
Also: The "It's not this, it's that" styling is a major trigger to me these days.
And as regards your point about brief little sentences
Stacked slim.
Like this.
I call it:
Tall
Tales
(
t
m
)
Lol tall tales is great. There is an SNL skit in there somewhere about scroll-optimized reading - feels like we’re all back in the Middle Ages unfurling little scrolls of messages from the town loony
I'm here for the AI produced em dash bashing. Loving the new acronym.
I really like opening the door to a conversation about the merits of our own voice in a professional environment. The workplace is laced with reasons to feel anxious. And communicating properly can be one of them. It's easy for AI to sneak into the space that anxiety creates.