Strong essay. The “amplifier” metaphor landed hard. One question I kept turning over: are you specifically critiquing AI use in creative, self-authored contexts, or do you think the same voice erosion happens in structured business environments as well?
My experience has been that AI use in the workplace often borrows voice from the org or role, which is fine. The real danger shows up when people carry that same AI-first workflow into places like Substack where no upstream signal exists.
Curious whether that distinction matters to you, or whether you see the problem as broader than that.
Your framing is sharp. "No upstream signal" is exactly the difference. Corporate AI can match existing patterns. Personal platforms have nothing to match.
But I'd push slightly: the business context isn't safe either, it's just slower. You can AI-first your way through a corporate career while your own writing muscles atrophy. The output passes. The person degrades.
I think this is the key distinction for me: business contexts aren’t unsafe because of AI. They’re indifferent to personal voice by nature, because voice is delegated to role and constraint rather than cultivated. That predates AI. What AI changes is the speed and ease, not the underlying dynamic. The real risk shows up when habits from an instrumental environment migrate into spaces where authorship is the point.
That's a better framing than mine. AI didn't make business writing voice-indifferent. It was already that way. The danger is carrying those habits into spaces where they don't belong. Clean distinction.
Most people are optimizing the amplifier while starving the signal, then wondering why everything sounds the same. Thanks for burning the bridges publicly. A lot of people need to read this and won’t admit it yet.
Yet another amazing curation of thoughts. All very true. Well done, Nick! I appreciate the humor and the unexpected hooks in your writing. You appearently developed your voice BEFORE AI, or at least at one point on the road, you certainly did. 😉🩷🦩
Thank you for making this visible in a thoughtful and frankly fun way. Midwest direct style?
I'm curious how you think about notes and their purpose.
At the very least, I feel like they are the place where your voice is the signal, and I'd appreciate your perspective on how to make the most of those moments. I really don't like using AI help for notes.
Midwest direct? I'll take it, though I'm actually consider Las Vegas my hometown (currently in Paraguay though).
On notes: I actually looooovvve AI for voice notes, which is ironic because receiving voice notes makes me want to claw my ears off. If I wanted to hear someone circle a point for four minutes, I'd listen to my own recordings. (I would not. Ever. Red-hot poker to the eye first.) AI takes that mess and makes it legible.
Turns out the best use of AI notes is saving other people from having to experience me unfiltered.
Strong essay. The “amplifier” metaphor landed hard. One question I kept turning over: are you specifically critiquing AI use in creative, self-authored contexts, or do you think the same voice erosion happens in structured business environments as well?
My experience has been that AI use in the workplace often borrows voice from the org or role, which is fine. The real danger shows up when people carry that same AI-first workflow into places like Substack where no upstream signal exists.
Curious whether that distinction matters to you, or whether you see the problem as broader than that.
Your framing is sharp. "No upstream signal" is exactly the difference. Corporate AI can match existing patterns. Personal platforms have nothing to match.
But I'd push slightly: the business context isn't safe either, it's just slower. You can AI-first your way through a corporate career while your own writing muscles atrophy. The output passes. The person degrades.
Substack just accelerates the reveal.
I think this is the key distinction for me: business contexts aren’t unsafe because of AI. They’re indifferent to personal voice by nature, because voice is delegated to role and constraint rather than cultivated. That predates AI. What AI changes is the speed and ease, not the underlying dynamic. The real risk shows up when habits from an instrumental environment migrate into spaces where authorship is the point.
That's a better framing than mine. AI didn't make business writing voice-indifferent. It was already that way. The danger is carrying those habits into spaces where they don't belong. Clean distinction.
Most people are optimizing the amplifier while starving the signal, then wondering why everything sounds the same. Thanks for burning the bridges publicly. A lot of people need to read this and won’t admit it yet.
"Starving the signal" is the entire diagnosis in three words.
Appreciate you. The bridges needed burning.
Yet another amazing curation of thoughts. All very true. Well done, Nick! I appreciate the humor and the unexpected hooks in your writing. You appearently developed your voice BEFORE AI, or at least at one point on the road, you certainly did. 😉🩷🦩
Appreciate that. And yeah, the voice took a long time to get weird before AI showed up to smooth it out.
(The humor is mostly my coping mechanism at this point. But I'll take "unexpected hooks.")
Thank you for making this visible in a thoughtful and frankly fun way. Midwest direct style?
I'm curious how you think about notes and their purpose.
At the very least, I feel like they are the place where your voice is the signal, and I'd appreciate your perspective on how to make the most of those moments. I really don't like using AI help for notes.
Midwest direct? I'll take it, though I'm actually consider Las Vegas my hometown (currently in Paraguay though).
On notes: I actually looooovvve AI for voice notes, which is ironic because receiving voice notes makes me want to claw my ears off. If I wanted to hear someone circle a point for four minutes, I'd listen to my own recordings. (I would not. Ever. Red-hot poker to the eye first.) AI takes that mess and makes it legible.
Turns out the best use of AI notes is saving other people from having to experience me unfiltered.
Yeah, that’s a good example. I just feel like the information doesn’t stick in my head if I’m trying to learn something.
Ohhhh... For writing down notes like that? Almost worthless.
I just use AI to capture brain farts.
Actual notes, I prefer handwritten in my BuJo.