Al from Durham
Member
Paul Graham:
You could pay someone to write for you, like JFK, or plagiarize, like
MLK, but if you couldn't buy or steal words, you had to write them
yourself. And as a result nearly everyone who was expected to write had
to learn how.
Not anymore. AI has blown this world open. Almost all pressure to write
has dissipated. You can have AI do it for you, both in school and at work.
The result will be a world divided into writes and write-nots. There
will still be some people who can write. Some of us like it. But the
middle ground between those who are good at writing and those who can't
write at all will disappear. Instead of good writers, ok writers, and
people who can't write, there will just be good writers and people who
can't write.
Is that so bad? Isn't it common for skills to disappear when technology
makes them obsolete? There aren't many blacksmiths left, and it doesn't
seem to be a problem.
Yes, it's bad. The reason is something I mentioned earlier: Writing is
thinking. In fact there's a kind of thinking that can only be done by
writing. You can't make this point better than Leslie Lamport did:
If you're thinking without writing, you only think you're thinking.
So a world divided into writes and write-nots is more dangerous than it
sounds. It will be a world of thinks and think-nots. I know which half I
want to be in, and I bet you do too.
This situation is not unprecedented. In preindustrial times most
people's jobs made them strong. Now if you want to be strong, you work
out. So there are still strong people, but only those who choose to be.
It will be the same with writing. There will still be smart people, but
only those who choose to be.
.
You could pay someone to write for you, like JFK, or plagiarize, like
MLK, but if you couldn't buy or steal words, you had to write them
yourself. And as a result nearly everyone who was expected to write had
to learn how.
Not anymore. AI has blown this world open. Almost all pressure to write
has dissipated. You can have AI do it for you, both in school and at work.
The result will be a world divided into writes and write-nots. There
will still be some people who can write. Some of us like it. But the
middle ground between those who are good at writing and those who can't
write at all will disappear. Instead of good writers, ok writers, and
people who can't write, there will just be good writers and people who
can't write.
Is that so bad? Isn't it common for skills to disappear when technology
makes them obsolete? There aren't many blacksmiths left, and it doesn't
seem to be a problem.
Yes, it's bad. The reason is something I mentioned earlier: Writing is
thinking. In fact there's a kind of thinking that can only be done by
writing. You can't make this point better than Leslie Lamport did:
If you're thinking without writing, you only think you're thinking.
So a world divided into writes and write-nots is more dangerous than it
sounds. It will be a world of thinks and think-nots. I know which half I
want to be in, and I bet you do too.
This situation is not unprecedented. In preindustrial times most
people's jobs made them strong. Now if you want to be strong, you work
out. So there are still strong people, but only those who choose to be.
It will be the same with writing. There will still be smart people, but
only those who choose to be.
.
