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Book review of Jonathan Warner's book More Than Words: How to think about writing in the age of AI

Warner writes, “Writing is thinking. Writing involves both the expression and exploration of an idea, meaning that even as we’re trying to capture the idea on the page, the idea may change based on our attempts to capture it. Removing thinking from writing renders an act not writing” (11). Because writing involves thinking and reflecting, our engagement in writing changes us. Warner says, “If writing is thinking — and it is — then it must be viewed as an act of our own becoming” (73).

Book review of Crossings: How Road Ecology is Shaping the Future of Our Planet, by Ben Goldfarb

Although I don’t work in road ecology or traffic engineering, the author somehow pulled me through 300 pages on this topic. He managed this not just through vivid language and diction, but by personally visiting places and telling stories about the specific challenges that animals, “carers,” forest service workers, and others faced as freeways and highways bisected and dissected their environments.

I'm starting an AI Book Club

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Countering AGI with superintelligent docs?

Barista analogy

To use an analogy, suppose you’re a barista making espresso coffee. An AGI-capable robot trained as a barista is able to make all the coffee that a regular barista can make but twice as fast. Further, the Android barista can create exquisite espresso art in any shape that humans request, wowing them and making the experience novel. Soon the human barista is replaced. After all, the paying customer would rather pay $2.50 for a robot to make a latte instead of $5.00, especially when it tastes the same.

Do developers need code samples in API documentation?

Most code samples in documentation are fairly basic, which is by design. Documentation tries to show the most common use of the API, not advanced scenarios for an enterprise-grade app whose complexity would easily overwhelm developers. (At that point, you end up with a sample app.)

Links from around the web: vibecoding, 60-hour work weeks, smaller internet communities, ethical compromises, and expertise

Vibecoding

Not a Coder? With A.I., Just Having an Idea Can Be Enough. By Kevin Roose, New York Times, Feb 27, 2025.

Fixing bugs without thinking, Recursive Self-Improvement, and the shift towards more complex tech comm tasks

Fixing bugs without thinking

With AI tools built directly into your authoring tool or IDE (such as VS Code), fixing simple doc bugs can become a mechanical, click-button task. Here’s the approach to fixing simple doc bugs:

Review of Divided Highways, by Tom Lewis — and some thoughts on techno-utopian disillusionment

(Note: The fact that I’m writing a book review on this topic might seem odd given that I usually focus on tech comm topics. However, I document APIs for getting map data into cars, so I sometimes read books related to the automotive and transportation domain. I also run a book club at work focused on these books.)

Rethinking traditional approaches to release notes -- recording of WTD Australia presentation

Listen here:

Is AI eroding slow mode? Push-button solutions versus thought partners, and approaches to challenging writing tasks

Is AI eroding slow mode?

During the past few weeks, I’ve felt like my brain’s RPMs have been in the red zone. Granted, the constant stream of chaotic political news hasn’t helped—but regardless of current political events, I’m frequently checking the news, my email, and chat messages and operating in a mode that isn’t great. Reading long-form books has proven to be difficult. I run a book club at work focused on automotive and transportation books, and it took me two months to make it through a single book (granted, it was a 300-page historically dense book, but still).

Using AI with issue tracking systems (prompt engineering series)

Read the full article here: Using AI with issue tracking systems.

My 2025 trends predictions for tech comm

This post is also available as an AI-generated podcast from NotebookLM:

Using AI to mine log messages from reference doc builds (Prompt engineering series)

Read the post: Using AI to mine log messages from reference doc builds.

Biohacking your glucose with AI

Biohacking experiment

“Biohacking” might be a pretentious cyber term for what is otherwise a straightforward experiment. For 10 days, I tracked my food and exercise levels while also wearing a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) to track my glucose levels. I then used AI to pair up the food + exercise with the glucose readings and perform an analysis about triggers for glucose spikes and recommendations to avoid them.

AI stream journaling experiment

The prompt

I want you to act as my AI stream journal (similar to a bullet journal), for the day. In this chat session, I’ll log 3 kinds of notes: tasks, thoughts, and events. Tasks are to-do list items. Thoughts are random ideas or notes I have. Events consist of food eaten, exercise, or descriptions of my internal states. The point is to have an easy way to dump all the scattered information in my head into a central log that you organize and analyze on my behalf.

I'd Rather Be Writing blog

Reveal JS: An HTML5 alternative to PowerPoint, with support for SVG graphics

Mar 11, 2015 • technical-writing

In trying to find a slide format that supported SVG image formats, I was exploring some PowerPoint alternatives and stumbled across Reveal JS. I like Reveal JS so much, I do not think I will ever use PowerPoint again. Here's the slide show I put together with Reveal JS: Innovation in Technical Communication. Press F to switch to full screen mode, and then press your space bar to progress through the slides. If you want to see my speaker n...

Pushing content into any format with Jekyll

Mar 6, 2015 • technical-writing

Innovation in tech comm 1.0 Sustaining and disruptive innovations 1.1 A long list of technical innovations semi-relevant to technical writers 1.2 The only significant innovation for tech comm 1.3 XML and the web: d...

How to create a help API

Mar 4, 2015 • technical-writing

Innovation in tech comm 1.0 Sustaining and disruptive innovations 1.1 A long list of technical innovations semi-relevant to technical writers 1.2 The only significant innovation for tech comm 1.3 XML and the web: d...

Static site generators start to replace web publishing platforms like WordPress

Feb 27, 2015 • technical-writing

Innovation in tech comm 1.0 Sustaining and disruptive innovations 1.1 A long list of technical innovations semi-relevant to technical writers 1.2 The only significant innovation for tech comm 1.3 XML and the web: d...

Some web tools worth using in help solutions

Feb 26, 2015 • innovation

Innovation in tech comm 1.0 Sustaining and disruptive innovations 1.1 A long list of technical innovations semi-relevant to technical writers 1.2 The only significant innovation for tech comm 1.3 XML and the web: d...

Piggybacking onto the innovation of the web

Feb 24, 2015 • technical-writing, innovation

Innovation in tech comm 1.0 Sustaining and disruptive innovations 1.1 A long list of technical innovations semi-relevant to technical writers 1.2 The only significant innovation for tech comm 1.3 XML and the web: d...

Microsoft and the last 5 great technological innovations

Feb 20, 2015 • technical-writing

Innovation in tech comm 1.0 Sustaining and disruptive innovations 1.1 A long list of technical innovations semi-relevant to technical writers 1.2 The only significant innovation for tech comm 1.3 XML and the web: d...

Interactive video workshop in San Jose this Saturday, 1-5pm

Feb 19, 2015 • technical-writing

If you're in the San Francisco Bay area and are interested in learning more about creating interactive video tutorials, check out the Best Practices when Creating Interactive Video Tutorials Workshop, sponsored by the STC-Silicon Valley chapter. The workshop will be held at the West Valley Branch Library, 1243 San Tomas Aquino Rd., San José, CA 95117 on Saturday, February 21, from 1pm to 5pm. The event is open to everyone, and the cost is...

The genius of Github and how it can transform tech comm

Feb 18, 2015 • innovation

Innovation in tech comm 1.0 Sustaining and disruptive innovations 1.1 A long list of technical innovations semi-relevant to technical writers 1.2 The only significant innovation for tech comm 1.3 XML and the web: d...

XML and the web: drifting farther apart?

Feb 13, 2015 • technical-writing

Innovation in tech comm 1.0 Sustaining and disruptive innovations 1.1 A long list of technical innovations semi-relevant to technical writers 1.2 The only significant innovation for tech comm 1.3 → XML and the web: drifting far...

The only significant innovation for tech comm

Feb 13, 2015 • technical-writing

Innovation in tech comm 1.0 Sustaining and disruptive innovations 1.1 A long list of technical innovations semi-relevant to technical writers 1.2 → The only significant innovation for tech comm 1.3 XML and the web: drifting farther apar...

A long list of technical innovations semi-relevant to technical writers

Feb 12, 2015 • technical-writing

Innovation in tech comm 1.0 Sustaining and disruptive innovations 1.1 → A long list of technical innovations semi-relevant to technical writers 1.2 The only significant innovation for tech comm 1.3 XML and the web: drifting farther apar...

Sustaining and disruptive innovations

Feb 10, 2015 • innovation

Innovation in tech comm 1.0 → Sustaining and disruptive innovations 1.1 A long list of technical innovations semi-relevant to technical writers 1.2 The only significant innovation for tech comm 1.3 XML and the web: drifting farther apar...

Podcast: The upcoming tcworld India conference on March 12-13, with Akash Dubey

Feb 9, 2015 • podcasts

Listen here: This weekend I talked with Akash Dubey, one of the main organizers of the tcworld India conference, about the upcoming conference in India. Although I haven't mentioned it on my blog yet, this year I'm actually attending tcworld India as an invited keynote presenter. tcworld India is a joint effort by two groups: Technical Writers of India (commonly known as TWIN) and tekom (the same group that creates the ...

Why do we need PDFs?

Feb 5, 2015 • technical-writing

I've never been a fan of PDFs, but PDF output is usually a requirement someone invariably brings up for documentation. In some cases, often for unstated reasons, users will ask for a PDF, and product managers expect technical writers to deliver one. When I get these requests, I usually create a zip file of the website and send it to the user, instructing the user to click the index file to launch it. This works well for these two situatio...

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About Tom Johnson

Tom Johnson

I'm an API technical writer based in the Seattle area. On this blog, I write about topics related to technical writing and communication — such as software documentation, API documentation, AI, information architecture, content strategy, writing processes, plain language, tech comm careers, and more. Check out my API documentation course if you're looking for more info about documenting APIs. Or see my posts on AI and AI course section for more on the latest in AI and tech comm.

If you're a technical writer and want to keep on top of the latest trends in the tech comm, be sure to subscribe to email updates below. You can also learn more about me or contact me. Finally, note that the opinions I express on my blog are my own points of view, not that of my employer.

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