I've been busy organizing my thoughts and rethinking all the reasons we write. Those two tasks, along with a third one I'll discuss later in another post, have been occupying most of my time of late.
Let me explain.
Knowing it was high time to get back to the business of pushing words after a year-long sabbatical, I stepped back into a writing world drastically changed by AI.
Multiple threads on Reddit and other writer groups confirm that writing of any kind -- and especially content writing -- has become an AI-dominated endeavor.
Knowledge engineering has compelled many writers to abandon their dreams of freelancing or writing books, forcing them to seek alternative, often less creative, employment. Machine learning and cheap labor have destroyed their dreams and driven them to make desperate decisions.
As it turns out, reorganizing my life while reading about others doing the same has led me to rethink why we write.
Why We Write Matters to Everyone
We humans write for many reasons: to communicate, preserve knowledge, express creativity, create a legacy and even influence others. Writing has always been a uniquely powerful tool. It transcends time, space, and even individual voices, shaping culture, history, and thought.
In a sense, the written word creates immortality.
And yet, if people quit writing entirely, we would have no more books, articles, emails, code, notes, social media posts or even scribbles on napkins.
The consequences of quitting discourse would cascade through society in profound and accelerating ways, including immediate disruptions and ultimately, long-term civilizational collapse.
Communication as we know it would break down, and misunderstandings would undoubtedly increase. The absence of written documentation would affect remote work, global trade, and even diplomacy. Industries that depend on written contracts, ledgers, and regulations would suffer. Without updates or documentation, transactions would freeze, and economic growth would atrophy. Education would suffer without access to the written word. There would be no books and no homework.
Eventually, humanity would return to many of our oral traditions, ultimately losing much, if not all, of our literacy and any accuracy developed over centuries of work. We'd also lose our ability to code, maintain law and order or even preserve our cumulative knowledge.
AI to the Rescue?
Giving up writing won't end humanity. After all, we're a resilient and adaptable bunch. We'd find ourselves doing everything quite differently and more slowly, but we could meet the challenge.
As it turns out, we may not be writing, but the written word isn't going away.
Artificial intelligence is increasingly stepping in to take over writing tasks for many people. It's convenient to turn to ChatGPT or other AI tools for written content, even if the generated product is slop: poorly written, often plagiarized and likely full of bias.
However, it doesn't have to be that way. We have the capacity to determine if and when we'll use assistive and generative AI.
And that brings me back to where I began: organizing my thoughts and reflecting on why we write.
The Power of the Word
The written word is uniquely powerful because it is hardy, within reach, and capable of drawing out profound emotional and intellectual responses. We read, contemplate and discuss writing because it is simultaneously a foundation and a springboard for our ideas. Unlike spoken words, which can fade or distort, writing creates a permanent record that can influence today and all of our tomorrows.
That's not a choice we should leave to AI. Machine learning cannot replace human passion or its unique fingerprint of syntax, word choice and grammar. Connecting deeply to context, audience and purpose is a human skill, not one to be left to machines.
We write to leave a lasting and unique legacy, one that is rich in culture and context. The written word helps us preserve, inspire, and formalize our thoughts. Any words we commit to the page are a cornerstone of human legacy, ensuring that our voices—not a machine's—echo through time, shaping the world long after we're gone.
We write because we are human.