Why I like people more than machines
People: AI doesn’t. That’s why there will always be room for people, and why human writing, even when flawed, is often better.
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How to subvert organizational stupidity
Each of us must now daily deal with organizational stupidity. It might be stupid policies at your job, stupid rules of your homeowners association, stupid government and tax policies, or the stupid way the health care system works. But the result is the same: a set of rules set up ostensibly for good and reasonable…
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Are you the author of your AI-assisted work?
Think for a minute about the creative work you do. Which of these categories best describes your creative work? With these categories in mind, let’s consider two questions: are you the author of your work, and are you growing and learning? Are you the author of your work? Who deserves the byline on what you…
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Charlene Li and Katia Walsh demonstrate the right way to build a book with AI help
Charlene Li and Katia Walsh’s Winning with AI: The 90-Day Blueprint for Success, just published this week, is a fascinating case study in how authors can use AI to create better books. While Charlene and Katia are more sophisticated with AI than the average author, they didn’t use AI to write prose. They used it…
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Glorious deletion; AI vs. copyright; Pogue’s book jacket: Newsletter 25 March 2026
Newsletter 144. Why writers must embrace “less is more,” and what to do about it. Plus, how Shy Girl was outed as AI-generated, why AI illiterates will be unemployable, three people to follow and three books to read. Shorter I don’t know what’s wrong with what you wrote. But I know how to fix it….
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“Winning with AI” is a standout corporate strategy book
Today is the publication date for Charlene Li and Katia Walsh’s Winning with AI: The 90-Day Blueprint for Success. These authors, both old friends of mine, have solved the unsolvable problem: how can you write a book on corporate strategy for AI, a transformational technology, when it’s changing so fast? This is not an AI…
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How to avoid AI disasters like “Shy Girl”
The publisher Hachette cancelled its planned US publication of Mia Ballard’s previously self-published horror novel Shy Girl because it said parts of it were apparently written with AI. Ballard denies it. This has resulted in the usual round of finger pointing between authors, editors, and publishers. For an intelligent perspective on the whole affair, read…
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Taming your inner perfectionist
Perfectionist tendencies are often the writer’s biggest obstacle. In the last few days I’ve met a memoirist who was stuck polishing her first chapter over and over and a thought leadership author who kept backing up and revising his primary model idea based on feedback from whomever he spoke with last. These writers seem intent…
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Own your identity; Jarvis AI book series; why LLMs write so poorly: Newsletter 19 March 2026
Newsletter 143. The three ways to shore up your idea leadership in the age of AI. Plus, LLMs’ fatal flaw as writers, Wiley’s true business, three people to follow, three books to read, and one step to control your persona. Owning your identity in the age of AI Authors and other thought leaders, your identity…
