ChatGPT: AI is now a decent writer. So you need to be better.

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I’ve been playing around with ChatGPT, an AI writing tool from Open AI. It is amazing. In contrast to previous AI writing tools, which were transparently awful, this one is quite good. I am not an AI expert, so don’t ask me how it works. I am a writing expert, so my question is this: … Continued

How to respond to an annoying edit

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Actually, that headline is redundant. All edits are annoying. If you care about your writing, that means you probably thought it was pretty good. So who is this other person to come in and change it? Who do they think they are? Well, they’re the person whose job it is to make your writing the … Continued

Change your trajectory

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I’ve spent a lot of time with some old people in a retirement community this week. What strikes me is that many elements of who they are were set long ago. It’s not that they can’t learn new things. Far from it. There is an enormous amount of learning going on here. They go to … Continued

How can you blog every day?

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Wrong question. How can you not blog every day? What work did you do today? What did you learn from that? Surely you learned something. Is it something others could benefit from learning? What did you read today? Did you agree with it? Why? Did you disagree? How would you explain what was wrong about … Continued

Disruption wins — except when it loses

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Disruptive innovation requires viewing the world differently from conventional wisdom. Disruptors who succeed manage to change the conventional wisdom. Disruptors who fail end up victims of the conventional wisdom. And that includes the conventional wisdom inherent in government regulation Disruptors who ignored the rules YouTube was built on pirated, copyrighted content. It violated rules and … Continued

The promise of social media

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I’ve been studying social media for 16 years. I think what Charlene Li and I observed back then is still true. People want to connect with friends. People want to connect with strangers with whom they share an interest. People want to engage intellectually with strangers. Or at least, they used to. Back when blogs … Continued

Friction, writing, and timing

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It is easier to keep writing than it is to start writing. Productive writers plan accordingly. Why is it easier to keep writing? Even if you don’t study physics, you’ve probably seen that if you try to move something heavy, like a car, it’s easier to keep something moving than it is to start something … Continued

Thank you, health care workers

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Every year at this time I consider the people to whom I owe the most gratitude. This is year it is healthcare workers: nurses, doctors, social workers, therapists, and even the reception and office staff. I’m grateful to all the people who helped deal with my father‘s cancer and the end of his life. The … Continued