Bakhtin and model collapse: How to use AI with expressive writing without generating AI slop
In this post, I explore ways to use AI to improve the quality of expressive writing without resulting in AI slop, and without robbing writers of the value of the writing process itself. I use Bakhtin and heteroglossia to argue that incorporating diverse voices into writing (with research help from AI) can help give writing a sense of liveliness and human soul. Read more »
Podcast: Tech comm predictions for 2026 (Phase One)
In this episode, Fabrizio and I discuss our predictions for tech comm in 2026, focusing on two posts: Fabrizio's My day as an augmented technical writer in 2030 and my 12 predictions for tech comm in 2026. Some of the specific topics we cover include the evolution of writers into automation engineers, the increasing necessity of systems thinking, the economic paradox where high tech valuations are contrasting with stagnant hiring, the risk of the Reverse Centaur dynamic (where humans merely approve AI output), and the growing value of authentic human connection and humanity. Read more »
AI Book Club recording of God, Human, Animal, Machine
This post provides a recording of our AI Book Club discussion of God, Human, Animal, Machine: Technology, Metaphor, and the Search for Meaning by Meghan O'Gieblyn, held Jan 18, 2026. Our discussion touches upon a variety of parallels between religion and AI, such as the black box nature of AI and the incomprehensibility of divine will, transhumanism and resurrection, predictive algorithms and free will, and more. This post also provides discussion questions, a transcript, and other resources. Read more »
Podcast: Writing as telepathy: AI tools, automation, and an intentionally offline life -- conversation with CT Smith
In this episode, Fabrizio (passo.uno) and I talk with CT Smith, who writes on a blog at docsgoblin.com and works as a documentation lead for Payabli. Our conversation covers how CT uses AI tools like Claude in her documentation workflow, why she builds tooling that doesn't depend on AI, her many doc-related projects and experiments, and how she balances a tech writing career with an intentionally offline life in rural Tennessee. We also get into reading habits, the fear of skill atrophy from AI reliance, and where the tech writer role might be headed. Read more »
Book review of 'If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies'—why AI doom isn't as visceral as nuclear war
In If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies, Eliezer Yudkowsky, founder of the Machine Intelligence Research Institute (MIRI), and Nate Soares, its president, argue that superintelligent AI will lead to humanity's extinction. In the same way that humans used their intelligence to dominate all other forms of life, so too will superintelligent AI surpass and dominate humans. As a dominant entity, AI will likely operate with an alien set of preferences and values, and humans won't be important to superintelligent AI's goals. Read more »
12 predictions for tech comm in 2026
As we head into the new year, I'd like to make a few tech comm predictions for 2026. I'm focusing my predictions within tech comm and also basing them off my own experience. In this post I also broaden out my scope a bit and comment on some wider issues and trends in a more opinionated way. While I'm basing these ideas on emerging research, this is a blog post, not a peer-reviewed journal article, so my predictions are speculative and based on general vibes. Read more »
A hodgepodge of ideas spewing in my head
As I sit down to write, I have a hodgepodge of ideas spewing in my head, but none that has taken hold in any immersive way. Usually a blog post has a single topic of focus, and I try to go somewhat deep into it. But this approach can be problematic: If I don't have an idea that catches my attention, I feel I have nothing to write about. Hence, I'll skip my writing time “until the muse strikes” or something. But then days pass without the muse striking, and I start to wonder if I've gone about the creative process all wrong. Read more »
AI Book Club recording, notes, and transcript for Ethan Mollick's Co-Intelligence
This is a recording of our AI Book Club discussion of Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI by Ethan Mollick, held Dec 14, 2025. Our discussion touches upon a variety of topics, including the educator's lens, cautious optimism, the jagged frontier, personas, pedagogy, takeaways, and more. This post also provides discussion questions, a transcript, and terms and definitions from the book. Read more »
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