There has been a lot of discussion about the impact of AI slop on writing and other creative works. I can’t speak to AI music or AI-created actors, but I can talk a bit about writing.
To me, the biggest single issue is output over process.
Any output – from a full-length book to a short blurb and everything in between – is only part of what the writer who creates a work accomplishes. It is what readers see, what professional writers get paid for, and the written legacy they leave behind.
The greatest value in writing (to me at least) is not necessarily this finished product, but rather, the process the author goes through to create that work. Putting a word down on paper or pixels forces a coherence and clarity that is typically unavailable until the writing is done. Perhaps the best observation on this predates AI by decades and comes from former Librarian of Congress Daniel Boorstin, who said, “I write to figure out what I think…”1
The written word is the most visible work product, but it is not the most valuable part of writing – the process is…
Boorstin viewed the act of writing not merely as a regurgitation of what he knew, but rather as an exploratory process, a mechanism for thinking about ideas, context, framing, secondary effects, unintended consequences, inversions, and what-ifs. The process allows an author to strengthen and clarify their arguments and to formulate complex ideas.
I could spill another 10,000 words on this, but after 30 years of writing countless blog posts, it is not necessary. I have already figured out what I think about this.
Previously:
Finding Value via Writing (October 13, 2021)
Barron’s: How Advisors Can Create Killer Content (May 18, 2023)
Revolutionizing RIA Marketing (June 6, 2019)
__________
1. The quote in full reads, “I write to discover what I think. After all, the bars aren’t open that early.”
