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 »

Book review of "Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI" by Ethan Mollick — an educator embraces experience-based AI learning

Co-Intelligence by Ethan Mollick isn't a riveting, controversial book on AI that will ratchet up your p-doom or send your head spinning about misaligned alien intelligences conspiring against humanity. Part of the appeal of the book is that so many of Mollick's observations seem like common sense, as they're born from someone who's working with and using AI on a daily basis for a variety of domain-specific tasks relating to his profession. Read more »

The cost of speaking up: Thoughts on "The War on Words" by Greg Lukianoff and Nadine Strossen

I recently read The War on Words: 10 Arguments Against Free Speech—And Why They Fail by Greg Lukianoff and Nadine Strossen, as part of the Seattle Intellectual Book Club. The book counters various arguments against free speech, overall presenting the case that free speech should be protected in most cases except obviously damaging scenarios like defamation, fraud, or immediate physical harm. In this post, I reflect on the costs of speaking openly, especially in the age of cancel culture, where you might not run afoul of the law but can still lose your job or face intense online animosity. Read more »

The isolation and loneliness of tech writing may get worse as AI accelerates

Isolation is something I've been thinking about lately. Although I have an abundant professional network and support probably 100+ engineers, PMs, and others, at times I do experience a sense of isolation in my role. I'm not sure if it's the holidays, or because now that I'm 50, I'm apparently at the bottom of the "U-shaped happiness curve," but I'm trying to understand how to navigate a world where my relationships with colleagues are increasingly transactional (purely information-based) and lack more social aspects. There are several reasons for isolation, and good reason to believe that AI will only increase our isolation. Read more »