It’s hard to escape the long arm of ChatGPT and Claude. Since LLMs make almost all knowledge work easier, there is an overwhelming incentive to use them everywhere. As a result, we can see the hallmarks of artificial intelligence at every turn. I would challenge you to read five LinkedIn posts and not see more than a few that feel written or heavily influenced by AI.
I heard the term “cognitive surrender” recently and it has been fascinating to think about in the context of AI. Shaw and Nave describe it in their research as that state where “the decision-maker no longer constructs an answer, but adopts one generated by an external system”. I think we have all been there recently: that moment in time where we are starting a task, begin to engage the mental gears, and then reflexively reach for Claude give you a hand.
I am a strong advocate for AI, generally. I think we are only beginning to understand the positive and negative impacts of this transformational technology. The AI debate raises important questions about creative work though. It also raises questions about authenticity and the homogenization of creativity toward statistical similarity.
Which brings me to this weblog.
I was reading this article on Legibility of Effort today, which was a solid dissection of level-of-effort as a signal for how worthwhile content might be. Anyone can have a weblog. With LLMs, you can create a post and have it live in minutes. Since January 2023 I have created 33 posts for voxelwise.com. Today, you could legitimately create more than that within a few hours.
Is it really about quantity though? I also have no doubt that Claude can create articles that are higher quality than my own. So, is it strictly about quality either? Once the author fully surrenders, aren’t you just getting whatever statistical view that the frontier models captured in their training?
When I first started this site in 2023 I made a small decision to include an original photograph at the top of every article. The photo was aways loosely, sometimes very loosely, related to the text in some way. Mostly, it was about sending the reader a signal that this wasn’t just some stock photo slapped onto some random text. There would be craftsmanship here. No selling the screen real estate for ads. No random photos from a Google image search. Just content from someone with a viewpoint to share. It was, and is, everything that I wanted from a personal weblog. All of it created with the intent of being the management resource I wish I had when I first started.
I have added a few sentences to the About page here on the use of AI within this site. In that note I am committing publicly to Voxelwise being my own creative work. To the degree that I have any readers, I want them to know that and see that signal. It is also an affirmation for myself about what kind of creator I want to be. It is about quality over quantity. It is about craftsmanship and taste. Most importantly, it is about whatever sliver of humanity and connection that can be created through words. That seems worthwhile, and worth being clear about.
Photo: Los Angeles International Airport, as seen from a Cessna 172 flying through the Los Angeles Special Flight Rules Area. My friend Matt was flying that day.