Why Write sans AI

Cogito, ergo sum, said Descartes.

Scribo, ergo floreo, I would add.

I THINK, SO I EXIST.?

I WRITE, SO I FLOURISH.

Before we plunge in, this article is 100% handcrafted from personal experience. No bots, search engines or assistants were employed in the making of this essay. A human friend was consulted for editorial insights.?

I prefer to write with my natural intelligence, often first on a piece of paper with my hands. Let’s call it ‘deliberate writing’. In this emerging era of machine-intelligence-as-infrastructure, this probably comes across as an archaic and even wasteful mindset and practice. However, I am convinced ‘writing deliberately’ is one of the master keys to unlocking one’s potential in this age. I hope to gently prompt you to think deeper by the end of this article.

Don’t get me wrong, ChatGPT and its generative AI spawns have a pivotal role to play in the new writing world order, as most breakthrough innovations do. But it is not to replace, but to augment, human ingenuity, experiential wisdom and compassion. I might write more on this another time.

The Art of Writing is Deliberate Practice

All Art endeavors to give form to nebulous thoughts, ideas, and emotions. These thoughts and emotions could range from ephemeral sparks firing off in our brains to long fermented thought patterns and experiences seared in our minds for ages. Simply put, we have hundreds and thousands of thoughts and feelings racing though our mind. Some are fleeting before we can even catch a glimpse while some stay long enough to become familiar patterns - whether welcome or not. Art captures and gives shape to what matters to us. Art is a solid outward expression of our constantly evolving subconscious. You’d agree writing is one of the time-revered art forms.

All Writing is essentially a practice in mindfulness. On mindfulness, there is a lot to say - we need it now more than ever in our modern world of constant distractions, mental addictions, and emotional dysregulations, but I digress.? Did you know it is impossible to do or feel anything else when you write? Give it a try.?

The art of writing then is, in many ways, the art of purposefully stealing divine lighting bolts of inspiration to bring into existence what once never was. It has the unique ability to alchemize complex experiences into actionable intuition and digestible knowledge through the simple act of focused observation. In the process, all writing promotes changes, subtle and/or overt, in the writer’s thinking, being and doing. I suspect it is partly thanks to the observer effect which states that a situation changes when it is observed - a concept now highly popularized by the world of quantum mechanics. Here the writer as the observer is observing their own thinking and feelings through their writing. And the act of the writer refining and reorganizing their views through their rewriting and retelling of their stories improves the writing and transforms the writer.

I believe all the benefits of writing, including the ones listed below, stem from its deliberate practice.?

10 reasons why I like writing without AI

Now that I have made the case for why you should write, here’s my list of top 10 reasons to consider writing without relying on AI.?

1. To think clearly
2. To promote emotional wellbeing / to feel deeply
3. To know and mold myself
4. To learn exponentially
5. To express authentically
6. To live in the creative experience
7. To build and evolve connections
8. THE meta-skill for professional success
9. To transcend time
10. To master writing with AI

To reap these benefits, you don’t have to adopt my caveperson methods of crazily scribbling in your notebook with a pen every morning. The humble pen just happens to be an old and loyal friend who helps me manage my restless mind. The keyboard, stylus, or an audio recorder could be yours.

Typing out on a computer delivers a lot of the same benefits that writing by hand does as long as you employ and deeply engage your mind in the act.?

Build a habit of deliberate writing to flourish

One of my aspirations this year is to write daily, even if I may not publish everything I write. Writing is one activity that can simultaneously help me practice my three newly identified core values (radical acceptance, mindful consumption, daily creative practice) to flourish in life. These values are an outcome of my 3-year-long introspective, often intermittent, writing. A story for another day.??

I am curious what such a habit could do for me in the coming years.?

If you are convinced of the power of writing first from within without using tools that mimic intelligence, I’d love to learn from your unique experiences. What are some reasons you write or intend to start writing sans AI??

For the skeptics, a more detailed essay on the reasons to write deliberately without AI is on its way. In the meanwhile, I am interested in knowing more about why you find writing first with AI a more superior way to write than without.