MAY 2026 – Almost daily now The Atlantic publishes commentary on Artificial Intelligence, much of it packaged in audio conversations hosted by Charlie Warzel. It’s all helpful; but a recent narrative by Eve Fairbanks jumped out for eloquently making an important and ominous point:
The problem is that the efficiency and frictionlessness that make AI appealing to writers are the same qualities that make it feel untrustworthy to readers. And readers are right not to trust it. No matter how much we may tell ourselves that AI is just a tool like spell-check, it isn’t. When we use AI to flesh out ideas, we lose the most important part of the writing process: thinking.
Fairbanks’ piece hit a nerve with readers, whose comments reflect the overall unease that AI is a replacement for the exercise of human thought. As one popular comment put it:
Skills atrophy when not used. I disregard the intrusive offers of AI assistance to write an email. I understand there are people who do not like writing and how appealing that might be for them, but some things do not save that much time and aren’t worth the abdication of opportunity to exercise the mind just a bit. I write this as I sit in a chair that I will haul myself out of soon, using my legs and my core muscles, not pushing on the table top or chair arms for assistance. I regard this as part of functioning. Don’t let your mind, or body, become weakened.
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/2026/05/how-to-tell-ai-writing/687345/