I think the vitriol around AI has crossed into moral absolutism for a lot of people. There are legitimate criticisms of AI, but “AI can be harmful” does not logically mean “all AI use is unethical” or “AI has no useful purpose.” Treating every use as morally equivalent is just hasty generalization and guilt by association.

At some point, “AI is bad” stops being a conclusion and becomes a sacred value. Then useful examples are not considered on their merits, they are dismissed because they threaten the moral position. You can criticize harmful uses of AI without pretending the technology itself has no legitimate use.

I did not say “authorship is when I make a few edits and sign my name to slop.” That is not my argument.

My argument is that authorship is grounded in the origination of the ideas and intent, control over what goes into the work, judgment over how those ideas are expressed, endorsement of the final form, and responsibility for the result. Assistance with the linguistic realization does not, by itself, transfer authorship.

You point out that the machine has no meaning, association, appreciation, or delight in the words. I agree. But I do. That is precisely the distinction I am making. The machine does not know what I mean, care whether it represents me, recognize when an analogy fails, or decide whether an argument is worth defending. I am doing those things.

You seem to be defining “writing” as personally generating the initial sequence of words. Maybe that is where we actually disagree. But that definition cannot simply be assumed and then used to prove that I am not writing. Why should authorship reside specifically in first-pass word generation rather than in the thought, intention, judgment, revision, and control that determine what the final words mean?

That is the argument I am interested in having.

Why?

Interesting. When you want to criticize the argument, the words are mine enough to hold me responsible for them. But when I claim responsibility for those same words, suddenly they’re not mine.

“I don’t write anything but take credit for everything” is a straw man. If you disagree, address what I actually said.

That’s my point.

I use AI as a writing tool, not as a substitute for authorship.

The ideas, intent, perspective, and final judgment are mine. I decide what I want to say, what belongs in the piece, what does not, and whether the finished version accurately represents me. AI may help me organize my thoughts, clarify a sentence, improve the flow, or find wording that better expresses what I already mean. That is not fundamentally different from working with an editor, dictating to a transcriber, or revising a draft after receiving feedback.

What matters is that I review the final work, approve it, and put my name on it. By doing that, I take responsibility for every sentence. If the writing is thoughtful, accurate, and effective, I am responsible for those choices. If it is careless, misleading, generic, or full of slop, that is also my responsibility. Blaming the tool would be an attempt to avoid accountability.

AI does not decide what I believe. It does not decide what I am willing to defend. It does not decide what I publish under my name. I do.

The tool may assist with the writing process, but the authorship comes from intention, judgment, selection, revision, and responsibility. The final work is mine because I chose it, shaped it, approved it, and signed my name to it.

Krita had been great for most of my work.

I’m currently browsing with a kitten asleep across my neck. Nothing better in the world.

Upgrade to Linux to extend the life another ten years.

Looks like my Spakle! She is even on the same cat tree!

They even mentioned E.coli!

https://youtu.be/8DnoOOgYxck

I know it’s so hard to lose her. Even though their time with us is never long enough, 14 years full of fun, cuddles, and love is a beautiful, full life. She had her favorite people every day, and that meant everything. You were the best part of her life from start to finish.

The CCP didn’t just subsidize cheap cars. They built out the manufacturing capacity to produce them at scale.

As China’s demographics shifted and long-term labor supply came into question, they leaned heavily into automation and industrial efficiency.

That’s the real reason these cars are so inexpensive. It’s not just lower prices, it’s a fundamentally different cost structure driven by scale, integration, and advanced manufacturing.

What’s unsettling competitors isn’t cheap cars themselves.

It’s the ability to consistently produce cars more cheaply than anyone else.

A 2008 Silver Toyota Yaris Sedan. I sure do. It’s amazing the things still run so we’ll.

Nope. She slew me.

Gorgeous!

CoCo fundamentally changed the way I think about death and the value of memory. I went into it knowing almost nothing about Día de los Muertos, so I wasn’t expecting it to affect me as deeply as it did.

The idea that someone can disappear forever only when they are no longer remembered hit me in a way I wasn’t prepared for. It was such a sad thought, but strangely comforting too. Sad because it means there is a kind of “second loss” that can come with time, but comforting because it suggests that the people we love are never truly gone as long as we carry them with us, speak their names, and keep their stories alive.

That idea stayed with me long after the movie ended. It made death feel less like a hard ending and more like a responsibility of love through memory.

Plus, the music is amazing.

Humiliation? Like he’s capable of it. He tweeted they were dumb as he left. As far as he’s concerned, he won.

I know this hurts so much. But if there’s any comfort in it, he got to spend his whole life with you, loved and cared for from beginning to end. You were literally the best part of his life, and he knew he was loved every single day.