HN debate: if you start writing today, you can't prove you can write without AI
zazuke · hn · 2026-09-22
A Hacker News discussion sparked by an essay on AI writing makes a sharp point: anyone starting to write today can never verify whether they can write without AI, because there is no baseline.
The core claim is that AI-assisted writing is now so pervasive that the ability to write unaided is becoming unmeasurable and unprovable. Commenters debate skill atrophy, what writing practice even means educationally, and how to think about tool dependence in creative work.
More from AGI Musings
- Prediction: hospitals will keep their own tested open-model formularies in two years — MaziyarPanahi · 2026-11-12
- Packy revives Qwest CEO's 1998 'no bandwidth glut' quote for the AI oversupply debate — prestonpesek · 2026-11-12
- Stanford's James Zou joins The Economist podcast on AI agents in science — anshulkundaje · 2026-11-12
- a16z maps the B2A economy: AI agents are now most of web traffic and soon its buyers — venturetwins · 2026-11-12
- Jason: Anthropic is rebuilding every SaaS product into Claude—free for life — smtabatabaie · 2026-11-12
- Fleuret: if AI designs drugs as fast as it makes dumb videos, regulation will buckle — francoisfleuret · 2026-11-12