People writing using AI are not fooling anyone (but they're losing out on a lot while at it)

People writing articles using AI should know that they’re not fooling anyone.

While they think AI is hiding their lack of writing ability, it’s actually exposing their lack of ability to think.

Please know that grammar is a very small part of writing. It’s only the syntax. The real job and value of writing is that it makes you think. It's a great mental workout which improves the quality of your thought. And when you use AI to write for you, what you're doing is giving up on the whole exercise and outsourcing the very act of thinking. That's sad!

It makes sense to outsource laundry, washing dishes, cleaning, plumbing, or brick laying. But not thinking! Outsourcing thinking is a sureshot way to kill mental acuity. It’ll make you dumb. And worse, it’ll make you like everybody else. And while everyone thinks it’s “normal”, the truth is that “normal” sucks. As Mr. Jeff Bezos said, “Differentiation is survival, and universe wants you to be typical”.

In his last letter to shareholders, Mr. Bezos wrote the value of “preserving your differences”. He quoted Richard Dawkins’ The Blind Watchmaker, which read:

"Staving off death is a thing that you have to work at. Left to itself – and that is what it is when it dies – the body tends to revert to a state of equilibrium with its environment. Our bodies, for instance, are usually hotter than our surroundings, and in cold climates they have to work hard to maintain the differential. When we die the work stops, the temperature differential starts to disappear, and we end up the same temperature as our surroundings. More generally, if living things didn't work actively to prevent it, they would eventually merge into their surroundings, and cease to exist as autonomous beings. That is what happens when they die."

Mr. Bezos then added, “In what ways does the world pull at you in an attempt to make you normal? How much work does it take to maintain your distinctiveness? To keep alive the thing or things that make you special?

We all know that distinctiveness – originality – is valuable. We are all taught to "be yourself." What I'm really asking you to do is to embrace and be realistic about how much energy it takes to maintain that distinctiveness. The world wants you to be typical – in a thousand ways, it pulls at you. Don't let it happen.

You have to pay a price for your distinctiveness, and it's worth it.”

He’s right. With these articles written by AI, you’re accepting being akin to the bottom of the barrel, lowest common denominator, zero effort “normal person”, who’s nothing unlike anybody else. That’s not good. You are an individual, with unique idiosyncrasies which deserve to shine. And all of them must be sharpened and brought to the fore, and not hidden by this onslaught of pathetic AI slop.

Preserve your distinctivenes. Preserve your individuality. Don’t paste AI slop and try to pass it off as your writing. It's pathetic and easily recognisable. Make some effort into thinking. It’ll be worth it.

Writing is a great mental workout. One that forges a unique identity.

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