I used to write
Then I stopped.
I did. I mean, I used to write a lot back in the day.
To give some context, I started my blog in 2003 — 21 years ago. It ran on Dotclear, an old blog engine. I switched to various static code generators over the years, spending hours migrating data from one format to another. I used Muse within Emacs, Org-mode, probably at some point, and finally, Ghost.
I wrote so much that 10 years ago, I published two books on Python (Serious Python and Scaling Python).
Then I stopped.
The number of publications I posted online decreased over the years as I spent more and more time coding, CEO’ing things at Mergify, and managing life. Writing slowly faded away, replaced with the mundane demandes of daily life. I closed my blog, and its content vanished in the limb of a file named jd-dev-blog.zip.
Sure, I thought about writing more. Or again. Over the last couple of years, every week, my stomach would ache, and my brain would melt under the weight of my thoughts. I wanted to yell so many things at the world, correct so many wrongs, and share so many learnings.
But the time to write disappeared, buried under the many priorities that other necessities. Still, the desire to return to the keyboard lingered.
Until the final nail in the coffin hit.
AI became mainstream.
Anyone could write anything in seconds. Copywriters were being replaced by bots. The cost savings of replacing humans would revolutionize entire industries. There was no point in writing anymore. My engineer brain decided that the problem was solved.
So I gave up. My mind gave up.
My desire to write would be instantly killed by the concept of ChatGPT. The existence of that malicious AI would stifle any urge to draft thoughts on virtual paper. The sheer thought of such an entity lurking in the digital shadows, analyzing and predicting every word, strikes a chilling fear into the heart of my creativity.
Until today.
Over the last year, I toyed with GPT, generating tons of content. I used it to brainstorm, change sentences, and rewrite text. The more I used it, the more I realized I was getting bored. Browsing the Internet, and social networks, I realized humans were replaced by AI.
No one would write anymore; everyone would just publish.
With its cold, calculating algorithms, AI reduced the rich tapestry of human expression to mere patterns and data points. People would throw a bare concept or even ask AI for one and demand it to produce text. Many of those publishers would not even take the time to tweak the AI, to feed it with the small amount of style and humanity they would have. Content would be farmed, from social media posts to SEO blog posts.
Over the last year, everything became bland. The once vibrant landscape of ideas has been replaced with mechanical mimicry.
My brain acknowledged that AI could never truly write. That revelation shifted my perspective, and I realized that writing wasn't dead. The noise would undoubtedly grow louder, but this only meant the signal would need to be stronger.
We are entering a new era for writing.
Well, at least, that’s what I hope.
well said!!