Is using AI a shortcut? On effort and authenticity in writing
MinaLee__ · x · 2026-11-10
In her AI & Writing series, Mina Lee challenges the widespread belief that using AI is taking a shortcut. She opens with a scenario: you iterate a thank-you email with AI until it better captures your gratitude — yet if the friend finds out AI helped, it suddenly feels worth less, even though the gratitude itself didn't change.
A key dimension is invisible effort: readers can no longer gauge how much work went in and default to assuming AI did most of it (citing a 2024 experiment by Liu, Kang, and Wei with 208 participants). She uses this to ask what our reactions reveal about what we actually value in writing.
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