AI Can Write This Post, But Why Do I Want to Suffer Writing It?
Here's why it matters more than you think.
Every now and then, I stumble upon something that re-arranges my thinking on a topic and helps me connect the dots. Ben Thompson's latest post on Stratechery is one such. (Content and Community, 2025)
On the whole, I love it. It's a must read for anyone in media and advertising circles.
But this one particular take (Image attached) keeps lingering on my mind.
Ben sees creation as the final bottleneck in the idea propagation chain, a logical view from a systems perspective. But from a human point of view, creation isn't a bottleneck to be removed; it's a vital act of self-expression and sustenance.
Because Humans create for the sake of 'creating' itself. It's a form of sustenance.
- I have a vehicle, but I want to walk for pleasure.
- I can generate an image, but I want to paint.
- Machines can handle heavy weights, yet I still lift in the gym.
- AI can write a poem, but I want to struggle to find the right metaphor myself.
- I have Pro Tools, yet I want to feel the calluses on my fingers after I play my guitar.
- AI coding assistants exist, but I want to understand the algorithm deeply.
- I can buy gifts online, but I prefer making something personal by hand.
- I can stream any song, but I want to learn to sing it myself.
- I can ask AI for analysis, but I want to read the primary source and form my own interpretation.
- I can copy successful strategies, but I want to experiment and potentially fail.
I can write all the above with AI, but I want to write and be vulnerable. I want to suffer in the process.
We create because creating is itself nourishing.
Collectively AI is a significant step in the evolution of humanity, like how our ancestors discovered wheels. AI is a vast aggregate of human knowledge. It represents 'HUMANS'. But it's not HUMAN.
Maybe AGI is not possible, But it's necessary.
We are still at 0.7 in Kardashev Scale. I want AGI to deal with my life, so that I can go and 'live'.
While another part of my mind wants to go full 'Nietzsche' on the whole topic of AI, I'd still go with the famous Tamil quote "ஊரோடு ஒத்து வாழ்" (something like "When in Rome, do as the Romans do" in English)
(Image Snippet from Ben Thompson's Content and Community, 2025 - Stratechery)
