AI Is Going To Replace Me Someday

/ Stuart Danker

The machines are coming for my job. Oh, how naive I was when wrote this post. While I did accept that AI would someday rival our best writers, I did not expect to see its widespread use this soon.

You’ll find AI text in emails, press releases, even in actual magazines. How do I know? Because they sound like that annoying friend who’d just found crypto. Just like how they’d shoehorn the subject into every conversation—crypto is future-proof, crypto can heal your mother’s cancer, you can turn that sacrificial altar into an NFT—so too would AI use words that don’t belong in a sentence.

No, the term ‘meticulous detail to craftsmanship’ is not grammatically wrong. It just doesn’t fit the vibe of a Myanmarese night market vendor. I swear, if I have to read ‘a testament to its dedication to excellence’ to describe an underwear collection one more time…

Still, I seem to be the only person rallying against this new development. The other media houses don’t seem to care. The people with the money don’t seem to care. So what change can I effect other than to ask the younger journalists to get off my lawn? Is this the mountain I want to die on?

I think the moment everything stopped making sense was when an industry veteran succumbed to fully-generated articles. The proof is online. Anyone who knows this person can compare their work pre- and post-ChatGPT to see what I mean. And here I am, cranking out articles five times slower just for the sake of a cleaner conscience.

I remember a time when all I had was pen and paper. I still keep all the legal pads upon which were scrawled the fan-fiction and poetry from 12-year-old me. Never in a million years (it only took 30) did I expect machines to be able to describe my teenage heartbreak in words. And yet, here we are, one ChatGPT prompt away from a poem for your high school crush.

It was during a rant to a friend—where I bemoaned the single ‘l’ in ‘distil’ but double ‘ll’ for every other word in UK English—that I realised how blasé we’ve grown over the written word.

“I bet it sucks knowing that nobody else cares about this as much as you do,” he said. And he was right.

Maybe that’s why my passion for writing floundered. With more and more companies joining the AI movement (Google and Apple can help you draft entire articles now), writing has turned into a product and not a skill.

But therein lies my final bastion against the machine. What if I were to return to my 12-year-old self and write for an audience of one? What if, instead of writing for adoration or likes, I write for my own satisfaction instead? What if this is my way out from the machines’ inevitable domination of the written word?

Then maybe I have found my mountain to die on.

55 thoughts on “AI Is Going To Replace Me Someday”

  1. It’s awful and rampant, especially in college, where every social media post and email and whatnot are all AI-generated. Content writing used to be a fun volunteering activity but now, it’s barely a means to an end — there’s no more brainstorming on cool taglines or the right word. I’m sorry to hear it’s affecting your job as much; it’s disheartening to see what’s happening but it is encouraging to know several writers are keeping true to themselves. Insightful share, Stuart!

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    • Even if it means having less output than the competition, I’ll still stick to the old-fashioned way of writing. We can’t let AI slop take over the world. Imagine a day where all the content on Google was generated by AI *shudders.

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  2. I also share your frustration. I’m part of many writers’ groups on social media, and they share worry, frustration, grief, and all the other emotions regarding AI’s infiltration into our lives. Once in a while, someone will post a short story in those groups that they’ve used AI to create. Most of the group members will yell at them, half will cry out about how writing is a dying art and how wonderful the story is; the other half will laugh and mock the story. Of course, the story is always pathetically repetitive and annoying, because, well, AI isn’t creative; it’s just a machine copy/pasting what we put into it. Unfortunately, people are trying to put more and more and better quality work into it, which is what worries me. I keep myself focused by writing horror and thriller about AI now. It seems relatable and scares the bajeebies out of me and most writers I talk to, so maybe it will finally get me an agent. 😅

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    • Stuart, your post is raw, relatable, and beautifully introspective. Your resolve to write for yourself, not the machines, is inspiring. Keep climbing that mountain—your voice matters!

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    • Weirdly enough, I feel like widespread use of AI will bring back common sense and the willingness to research. Because to make the best decisions, surely we’d want to consult various sources? AI is only one source, and even then it’s dubious. Here’s to me being optimistic!

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      • You never know! It could inspire some to research because they want to follow the trail of results generated by AI, but I think it’s likely that will be for the more motivated crowd rather than the general population. I feel like my views on AI change by the day; I’m very inconsistent on this technology 😅 At work, we’re required to incorporate AI use as a part of our teaching now, too, and it’s…tricky. Some students hate it; others know nothing about it; still others want to use it to take the easy route and do their work for them. I’m trying my best to teach them both the limitations and the advantages while reinforcing that we humans are still the critical thinkers in the room, and that needs to continue, lol.

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  4. “Writing has turned into a product and not a skill.” Hasn’t everything though? I wonder if auto-generating content through AI is the main concern, or if a hustle-and-bustle, hyper-consumerist culture that pushes us toward mass content creation and dopamine-driven consumption is the real issue. The pressure to constantly produce and consume quickly may be what’s truly eroding creativity and value in writing, rather than AI itself. In many ways, AI is just a tool that reflects the culture we’ve created. The real challenge seems to be finding ways to slow down and nurture genuine creativity in a world that prioritizes speed over substance. (Disclaimer: Edited by AI)

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  5. If I say all I want to say about AI, I will probably reach the character limit in this comment box. While I can sometimes see the benefit of AI in my professional life as a tech consultant, I have real concerns about AI’s influence in my creative life. My favorite sentence in your post is this: “What if I were to return to my 12-year-old self and write for an audience of one?” What if, indeed. For now, this is what I strive to do every time I sit down to write. It’s where I find the joy, and I can always use a little more joy in my life.

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  7. I absolutely loathe Chat GPT and the thought that AI is stealing away authenticity. But us rebels are out there, doing our own thing and not falling for the easy BS. All the best to you in this crazy messed up world.

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  8. Totally agree with you on that! And as a translator, I can guarantee you that I could have written at least half the sentences in your post without changing a single word of it ahah. I hate how AI is slowly replacing the human brain, and how it is getting harder and harder to convince people that there IS an added value to something that was created by humans. I remember reading somewhere that AI should be used to do our dishes and laundry so that we have time to do art and create, instead of the other way round… How true!

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    • Oh yeah. Like the Japanese animator said about AI in illustration: “But why would I let the computer do the fun part?”

      Admittedly, I have stopped focusing on the fun since it’s my job, but maybe it’s time to head back to the drawing board (literally, by exploring another art).

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  9. I too have fallen victim to being far too optimistic about AI. My opinion shifted within a year mostly because I straight up didn’t expect people to use it so recklessly and flagrantly so do tasks that AI should not be doing. Ai, in myself opinion, should be doing the boring work that I don’t like to do- maybe some editing and helping me figure out a good synonym here or there. Perhaps even giving me a few Blog post title ideas. But writing the whole article? Blazing through the whole creative process? Am I a fool for thinking people did writing for fun once upon a time??
    Sorry to hear your discouragement. I think it’s common among us who still want to create something and hate being drowned out by the AI junk that’s being manufactured out there.

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    • I love your thoughts on this. I still feel that good content will always win in the end, especially since readers will be able to discern what they like or don’t like. I just can’t stand when AI is used for professional work, but if it works for them…

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  10. I agree 💯… it’s taking our humanity away…and if AI continues to ‘replace’ us in our daily work, what will we do with ourselves? We must fight to keep our humanity, our intelligence, and our uniqueness. I won’t touch it…makes me feel lazy, like I can’t be bothered. And, maybe, for the younger generations, that’s the point.

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      • I’ve taken the extra step of shutting off that feature that suggests words or phrases. Sometimes I shut the grammar assist off as well so I don’t lose my language skills.

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  11. I understand the appeal of A1 when it comes to stringing together basic, informational content. But there’s “content” and then there’s “writing”. To me, writing is about the process, not the results. It’s about dipping into all of the things that make us human — our skillset, our individualism, our life experience. I worry about how much of our brain functions have been handed over to machines in the name of efficiency. What are we saving time for — X? Facebook? Gaming? What do we really gain when humans disengage from the other humans around them?

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  12. Good to read you again bro! And yes, blogging weekly for 6 yrs now is more and more becoming my way of not just writing for my own satisfaction, but a way out of “the machines’ inevitable domination of the written word”. I hope you will join me again and post regularly again, cos you’re dearly missed my friend!

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  13. it’s a whole new world…it’s not like we can stop it, but can AI just become a useful tool…I use Chat as I would at one time in my life would have used an encyclopedia..a refernce…I keep imagine AI managing entire nations….how would a new concerence between an Ukrainian AI and American AI have gone?

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    • I love to read and write sci-fi, so I think a lot about this, too. Sometimes, it’s our imperfections that make us who we are. Having AI decide for us ignores our human element, but I’m also interested what the end result of such a world would be.

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  15. “Then maybe I have found my mountain to die on.”

    Which is a very good thing.

    I stopped worrying about that d@mn sh*t a very long time ago. Now I write on Twitter X about no-bullsh*t relationship. Who cares if anybody really read the sh*t?

    I realized I started the whole writing (back then) just because I wanted to write. So d@mn it! I might as well revisit my motive.

    And I did! And it helped. Now I am writing whatever I want to write without giving a care in the world.

    So yeah. Stuart, forget AI and start writing the godd@mn thing.

    One love as always.

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  16. Regarding your “don’t seem to care” observation about writing, I’ve seen that attitude all my life here in the US — the vast majority of people don’t care one bit about writing excellence. I think that’s partly because writing is such a difficult skill: you have to be able to understand your thoughts on something, organize them, then put them down on paper in the best order, with the best vocabulary for the exact meaning you want. Easier to talk, sing, or make videos. (I’m not denigrating talk, song, or videos, just pointing out that they are easier for the average person than is the complexity of writing.)

    These attitudes could be reversed and skills improved if our educational system addressed them. But it doesn’t. Lower comprehension skills make people more easily manipulated.

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    • Coming from a non professional writing background, writing is hard. I ventured into writing to challenge myself to learn a new skill after retirement. After I get my story written, I ask my wife to read it. Inevitably, she will have one principal question. What are you trying to say here? Getting my thoughts out of my head using the appropriate words in a sentence that sings is not easy.

      It’s like a magic potion has been created when I read someone’s work aloud and it just flows off my tongue like melted butter.

      I don’t know if AI can do better. But for readers without an appreciation for great writing skills, it probably doesn’t matter.

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  17. I think AI is just one my symptom of the lack of authenticity in our world. You just don’t know what to believe any more.

    On a more dismal note, with the state of the world these days, none of us may be around to see AI replace us. Despite my attempts to remain positive, I fear we are all doomed.

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    • Yup, I feel that the future lies in establishing yourself as enough of an authority or interesting person instead of trying to win people over through the beauty of your language alone. Not sure how I feel about that.

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  18. I completely empathize. I used to write for numerous websites in the health and fitness realm only to be pushed out by AI and third-party SEO firms. Since very few people read entire articles anymore, they tend to focus on title and key words. AI does that for them.

    Slightly related to your post, I started another free blog where I started writing short posts answering writing prompts (bradwrite.wordpress.com). Nothing deep or fancy, just writing something most days without expectations.

    I agree with other commentors, continue to make this blog your bastion. But you are correct. This is only the very beginning of AI. I feel like it’s only going to get better and more accurate eventually asking the question: Why do we need humans?

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    • Content mills will be the exact parties that won’t think twice about AI-generated content. But I feel that humans would still be needed to tell actual stories. It’s just that the humans themselves need to have much more compelling stories or personalities. Just my armchair predictions.

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  21. The increasing presence of AI-generated material makes me sad. Think of all the beautiful prose that might not exist had AI been around hundreds of years ago. Sometimes when there’s an accident on a highway and everyone’s slowing down to gawk at it, I refuse to look at it when I roll past, knowing that it’s everyone slowing to look at it that’s causing the slowdown (assuming the crash is on the side of the road and not on the road). I know my act is not stopping the slowdown, but it’s a little act of defiance that feels important to me. I do the same thing with AI-generated summaries. I often look at Trip Advisor review of hotels and such, and I try very hard to not read the round-up of the summaries. Will it save us all from AI? No, but it makes me feel better.

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    • Even Google provides AI results first now. It’s infiltrating our lives and we won’t be able to avoid it. But yeah, I guess I’ll need to find solace in other forms of expression (ones that I’m not worried about outputting).

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  22. Very interesting post, Stu — and relatable too, as someone who uses AI for writing at work. With that said, let me put in my two cents.

    My current job adopted AI in December, which wasn’t received warmly — with several colleagues turning in their resignation letters. While it did make composing news articles easier, the time freed up was then allocated to other tasks — in particular, making short videos using generative AI tools.

    But truth be told, AI leveled the playing field. As my boss, who formerly worked as a sports editor in one of the major Philippine broadsheets, put it during a one-on-one: “You already do your job well even without AI, so it didn’t really make a difference.” One colleague of mine, a former newsman who wasn’t really good when it comes to writing, welcomed AI as it allowed him to create better output.

    “But therein lies my final bastion against the machine. What if I were to return to my 12-year-old self and write for an audience of one? What if, instead of writing for adoration or likes, I write for my own satisfaction instead? What if this is my way out from the machines’ inevitable domination of the written word?”

    The answer lies in this blog. If I may ask: How long have you been blogging? The number of years you’ve poured out into this endeavor can and will serve as your bastion against the eventual dominance of AI. You ran this joint without AI for the longest time, keep it that way.

    I’ve been blogging here on WP for almost 12 years now without the need for AI, and I plan to keep it that way. Besides, it serves as my respite from the work-related writing that I do, something that’s rather draining. (Word of advice: I suggest making this one private to ward off the spammers — they’ve upped their game with AI.)

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    • Yeah I’m afraid there’s nothing we can do to stop the AI wave in all its various forms. I myself will never partake in AI content, so I could end up being one of those people who don’t adapt to change.

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  23. I came to writing late. And even then, writing is not a lucrative skill in India. So the moment I saw the launch of Chat GPT and other AI models, I knew that content writing is done for.

    Honestly though, maybe it is my own experience, but whenever I read news reports in the pre-AI era, I don’t think they wrote it in any better manner. It was pretty obvious to sense the lack of emotions, the crazy use of words from a dictionary, and completely detached tone. If you have a writer like that, might as well use AI.

    Finally, this is the thought that I had in my mind. I was listening to a livestream of a stand up comedian, one of the few I like. And he said that “Why play chess? Computers have surpassed humans in chess.”

    He is not wrong. It all started with Kasparov losing to a dedicated chess machine, and Kramnik was the last one to try his hand if I remember correctly. Rest of us mortals, we don’t have a chance, unless we adjust the difficult to very easy or beginner. So why even bother?

    My response?

    Because it gives me enjoyment. I need no other reason beyond that. If it weren’t for the lack of tactile boards, I would have even tried out my hand on Go and Shogi. If I could see, I would be playing strategic or tactical RPG all the time, because that is what I enjoy. Whether a computer has surpassed me or not is not relevant.

    So yes, by that standard, it is quite a mountain you have found for yourself. But people like me, we essentially were born on this mountain, only realizing it too late.

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    • I agree. I write. I also love puzzles. I won’t use AI for either.

      In retirement, I have added more varied word, number, and spatial puzzles to my repertoire (although I can’t pretend to understand every cryptic crossword clue, even when I know the answer). Having (successfully) tackled books of ‘fiendish’ level sudoku and codeword, I’ve decided to stick with the ‘tricky’ levels as they’re more enjoyable.

      Since retiring, I write short stories. I submit to competitions and only occasionally get longlisted, but I enjoy the challenge – especially editing to make the words flow better. I enjoy rhyming too. I don’t have a poetic soul, but I like the challenge of rhyming my verse (although it’s no longer fashionable in poetry circles).

      I may have few readers outside my family and blog followers, but it keeps me sane.

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      • That’s what I aspire to do. To use my writing as an art. Problem is, I still have so much to learn in my craft, and already AI is watering down the writing world. Secret chests full of personal writing a la Emily Dickinson, here I come!

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    • Oh yes. I will always play chess even though computers have essentially ‘figured out’ the game from move 2. It’s about two people strategising against each other, so at least AI won’t replace humans there. Because the fun is in the human element.

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  24. I’m so sorry you’re going through this at your job. :(

    To me, ‘AI’ is a triggering term nowadays, which makes me sad because I used to love far future sci-fi with lots of great uses like plotting the route to a far-away planetary system… Nowadays, it just makes me cringe everytime someone says, “But it makes writing so easy!” Well, duh, since you’re not really writing, of course it does.

    Writing isn’t supposed to be easy. It’s supposed to be a life-long occupation that makes you focus on your own thinking and your own emotions, to try and understand the world better. You can’t do that if you leave out the thinking part.

    In the long run, people are hurting their own ability to think something through from different angles and detect inconsistencies, all of which is the definition of intelligence. I can’t help but pity those who fall for the trap. “AI” is a scam, and I can’t wait for the bubble to burst.

    Hang in there, you are not alone. :)

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    • I’m not gonna gatekeep writing because to each their own. But like cycling downhill, are you really cycling at all? So yeah, I guess the best thing to do is take solace in my own art (or even start finding more life in my voice to shine against the lifelessness of AI). Not like anyone else would care. But I would be satisfied.

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