Proof of Care in the Age of A.I.: Why Handwritten Words Matter
I wrote this piece by hand and photographed the pages to prove that genuine effort still exists in an era where bots can generate content instantly. By embedding the handwritten text into an SVG with clever spacing tricks, I ensure the work remains copy-pasteable while preserving its human origin. This experiment highlights the growing difficulty of connecting with others when it is impossible to tell if any real effort went into the words we read.
Now, the same lengthy Pomeranian piece could've been blooped out by a bot in 10 seconds flat.
- malty_on_rock
This was something that bugged me while writing. Someone even asked, What's the point if people aren't going to read the whole thing? Reading this made my day, not just because of the content, but because someone else cared enough to tackle the same problem. Good one, Sire.
- jimmiles
If I had handwritten this, there would be at least one (likely lots more) errors in writing crossed out mingled in with the text. That there isn't makes me wonder why such a lengthy sample contains seemingly zero handwriting errors. Is that plausible?
EDIT: After seeing the comments, I am realizing how little I ever rewrote my own writings, an admitted weakness of mine. It was the blindspot behind which I made my reply!
- wolttam
I am commenting only to say that I read the reflected-letter text and found that amusing.
- theopsimist
Typewriters work too. I’m toying with the idea of starting an online journal that only accepts submissions written by hand or by mechanical typewriters.
- gnarlouse
I've sort of been thinking about this in terms of software dev lifecycle & PRs/code review.
Maybe PRs these days need to "test" the human? "Explain how this code works, without AI, or it gets rejected."
- xnorswap
I'm unreasonably distracted by the fact that the illustrations of the tattoos are on the back of the "Subtraction" page.
That is consistent for both pages, but inconsistent with how they seem to be ordered within the text.
I guess the chapters were re-arranged post-script, with the "Storytellers" chapter inserted between them later?
- bearjaws
I've been debating switching my blog to a vlog that is a one shot recording, no retakes, just real thoughts and advice in real time.
I've joked with friends its the "Farm to table" for thoughts, at least as much as it can be. Obviously you can just recite a LLM output, but that's more work IMO.
- nlawalker
Proving care still leaves the audience to determine if the care is in the message or in attracting attention.