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If writing is thinking then what happens if AI is doing the writing and reading?

(hardcoresoftware.learningbyshipping.com)
130 points whobre | 8 comments | 21 Jul 25 23:45 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source | bottom
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karaterobot ◴[22 Jul 25 00:13 UTC] No.44641892[source]▶
The title made me think this was going to be about the mental consequences of outsourcing writing to AI. In fact, the article is completely about people not reading documents. Corporate documents to be exact. His examples are from the 00s, so the problem has absolutely nothing to do with AI.

Heck, I, too, have noticed that nobody reads anything: what does that have to do with AI? At least with AI, people could read a summary of his 30 page corporate memo and ask it questions.

I repeat: that people do not read is not a new problem, nor is it made one iota worse by AI.

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1. gleenn ◴[22 Jul 25 00:21 UTC] No.44641955[source]▶
I am firmly a believer very few people read anything. They don't read long things as much as they don't even read short ones. One of the things I always thought was funny was having Product Managers see there were problems with UI, then I would get tickets to add text near the problems. It always crackme up because if users didn't even barely read the button they were clicking they why would they read a paragraph nearby.
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2. wlesieutre ◴[22 Jul 25 00:31 UTC] No.44642028[source]▶
In school they were really big on the 5-paragraph persuasive essay format. I guess because it teaches you to think through an argument and present it to someone.

In practice, I find that if I don't format something as a bulleted/numbered list, nobody is going to look at it.

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3. Herring ◴[22 Jul 25 01:14 UTC] No.44642276[source]▶
I'm sympathetic. It's like if code isn't color-coded and properly indented, I'm just not reading it.
4. snoman ◴[22 Jul 25 05:06 UTC] No.44643423[source]▶
> In practice, I find that if I don't format something as a bulleted/numbered list, nobody is going to look at it.

I’m one of those people, if I’m honest. If I’m reading for work, I want the minimum words necessary to get the point across. I’m looking for information, not a story.

If I’m reading for enjoyment though, it’s another thing entirely.

5. bitwize ◴[22 Jul 25 05:20 UTC] No.44643478[source]▶
Now we're in the era of:

Alice: Hey ChatGPT, please take this bullet list of points and turn it into a polite, but assertive and persuasive, email to Bob.

Bob: Hey, ChatGPT, please take Alice's email and turn it into a succinct list of bullet points.

6. ozim ◴[22 Jul 25 06:58 UTC] No.44643958[source]▶
I don’t have the link but somewhere in last 3 years I read article found on HN.

It was about the fact that lots of people actually struggle reading.

Bad parts are that they don’t even know or they won’t admit it. Then they make people who are fluent at reading angry because those people will expect reading a paragraph is not noticeable effort and will think everyone is fluent at reading.

7. tonyedgecombe ◴[22 Jul 25 06:58 UTC] No.44643966[source]▶
I was always surprised when my customers read past the first item in a list.
8. Nasrudith ◴[22 Jul 25 21:06 UTC] No.44653008[source]▶
The funny thing was that in school they taught us not to read the standardized tests but to scan and skim them. Which would fit well into a satire of standardized testing.