The Case for Keeping Writing Alive

Whenever I assign a task to GPT, I find myself wondering, "Am I being lazy? Could I just write this myself?"

Writing has been one of the most valuable skills I’ve developed through my education and career. It’s served as my therapy, my most effective form of communication in the remote world, the core of my role as a content marketer, and my most powerful tool for expressing myself in competitive situations—whether applying for jobs or even bidding on a house I want to buy.

Whenever I want to break out of endless circles of thought and move from point A to point B, I start by writing a few questions on the topic and simply begin typing. Writing allows me to expand my thinking and explore corners of my mind that would be hard to reach through thought alone.

When we think without giving our thoughts proper structure and coherence, we can easily get lost in endless branches of meta-thoughts, distractions, and mental wandering. For me, writing is the magic method that brings structure and depth to my thoughts, allowing me to explore them more independently and clearly.

This is exactly why interacting with GPT feels both intriguing and a bit concerning. Dan Shipper 's recent essay on Every.to (Writing as a Way of Thinking) offers a brilliant analogy: writing doesn’t just reveal what we already think—it actively generates new and better ideas as we engage with it. Shipper suggests that this kind of thinking could become rare in an AI-driven future, much like physical strength diminished after the Industrial Revolution. Just as people were once strong from manual labor and now need to go to the gym to maintain strength, perhaps we’ll soon need to make a conscious effort to write if we want to keep our minds sharp.

Shipper’s analogy struck a chord with me, and if you’re interested in the full perspective, I recommend checking out his essay.

Another small essay on this is Write and Write-nots. I felt both relieved from validation and a bit alarmed when I came across Paul Graham’s essay. In it, he says:

“AI has blown this world open. Almost all pressure to write has dissipated. You can have AI do it for you, both in school and at work. The result will be a world divided into writes and write-nots. There will still be some people who can write. Some of us like it. But the middle ground between those who are good at writing and those who can't write at all will disappear. Instead of good writers, ok writers, and people who can't write, there will just be good writers and people who can't write.”

So, what’s the path forward for staying in the “write” camp? These commitments might help:

• When using GPT for writing, the core idea and voice should come from me. I should only use GPT to refine and polish the best possible version of my work.
• Capture insights from articles and books in my Notion board, each accompanied by my own reflections.
• Commit to disciplined weekly writing, especially on topics that are looking a way out of my head and can be turned into something useful if they are put into writing.

In a world where AI makes it easy to sidestep the effort of writing, I’m reminded that the act itself—structuring thoughts, wrestling with ideas, and refining my voice is invaluable. Writing isn’t just about creating content; it’s a practice that sharpens thinking, deepens self-awareness, and preserves our intellectual independence.

By staying intentional about my writing process, I hope to remain in the “write” camp—not only as a content marketer but as someone who values the mental clarity, discipline, and self-discovery that only writing can provide.

How do you wrestle with robots?