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Posted by erwald 3 days ago

I think you should almost never use AI to write(erichgrunewald.substack.com)
362 points | 171 commentspage 3
illusive4080 3 days ago||
I offended a coworker by asking him to not send me AI written things because they’re wrong in subtle ways and overly verbose. I’m glad someone else shares my opinion.
informal007 2 days ago||
Much like short-form video, technology that minimizes deep thinking seems bound to gain popularity
ScienceCaptain 3 days ago||
I built a place to continue the disagreement around Grunewald's article as a structured one-on-one discussion. Its an experiment in finding better ways to have deeper conversations online if anyone here wants to try it: https://hwgo.io/p/7

Good or bad please let me know what you think of this format!

r0l1 2 days ago||
I dump my thoughts and a short draft of my message, mail, ... into one of the big LLMs and let it finish my work. Quite happy with the results and I can concentrate on the real tasks. I don't like writing and I am happy with the speedup... Get real work done and enjoy the rest of my time outside in nature.
stevetron 2 days ago||
I think we are confusing the line between the tool and the author. The AI is a tool, like a word processor, a typewritier, or a computer running MSWord or LibreOffice. Someone is going to say it isn't authentic if you used a spell-checker or a grammar-checker.
nirava 2 days ago|
You're wrong in comparing LLMs to a spell/grammar-checker (Syntax v Semantics) If LLM is a tool so is a ghost writer (not)

You're probably extending the logic from the idea that a programmer-llm is a tool. That is at least a defensible position. A written program isn't written to be experienced by people (usually), rather to create certain outcomes.

On the other hand, the written word is the entire experience of the person reading your thing, and that can all be created by an AI without your input. It has it's own biases and motivations and "alignments" (so to speak). Thus it is not a tool and actually a writer itself. And when it writes, you miss out on the experience of having written it, thus actually you end up becoming the tool (pun intended) that LLM is using to express itself.

Zaraif13 3 days ago||
Any form of thoughtful writing is usually meaningful when it's deeply human. Having said that, I've found it helpful to use AI as a sounding board and planner before actually getting into the writing. For me, the hardest part of writing a piece is always in getting the actual writing started, and AI has helped me unblock that a few times.
tzumaoli 3 days ago||
Every time there are some articles like this, some people replied with: "Yeah I agree, but I use LLMs 'this way' and my way doesn't suffer from the problem mentioned." I'm not saying these people are wrong but it's interesting that people always think their way of using LLMs is the best (and other people are using LLMs in the wrong way).
dwaltrip 3 days ago|
Welcome to the internet :)
diego_moita 3 days ago||
Define "use AI to write".

If you're talking about the general plan, structuring paragraphs, organizing your thoughts then I totally agree. Claude, in particular, is very hard to read.

But if English is a second language for you and you still get confused about what is the proper preposition or phrasal verb then you need AI. I suggest Grammarly.

erwald 2 days ago|
It's defined in the linked article?
wdutch 3 days ago|
One way I use AI to help me write that I've not seen anyone else talk about is this: I'll say "give me multiple versions of saying xyz". I'll almost never use any of what it outputs verbatim, but seeing it said in different ways helps me clarify how I'd prefer to approach writing it.
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