I build with AI because I want it to take work off people’s plates. I want the time back, including my own.
I want a conversation without a notification competing with the person in front of me. With screens, you have this perception of presence, but you’re really connected at arm’s length. Your attention is scattered.
One of the analog things I appreciate is note-taking, writing on a piece of paper. There was a time where I used to do this on iPads, and now it’s like, what am I doing?
One of my frustrations is looking at books now where they have a QR code at the bottom. You’re in a beautiful analog format, reading with your kids.
I want technology that helps me do what I came for and treats leaving as an acceptable outcome. The trouble is that a faster tool doesn’t necessarily give anyone more time to live.
In The Reverse Centaur’s Guide to Life After AI, Cory Doctorow describes what happens when that relationship goes wrong:
A reverse centaur is a human who is conscripted into acting as an assistant to a machine.
Doctorow distinguishes choosing a tool to help with your work from being made to keep up with an automated system. The question is who gets to set the pace and decide how the tool is used.
Even when a tool does save time, someone can fill the gap with more assignments. A team that finishes sooner should have some say in what happens next.
Before adding the next AI tool, ask what work it will remove and who gets to decide what happens to the time it saves. Include the checking and cleanup. Then choose something away from the screen that you want that time for.
Analog nights, digital days.