Writes and Write-Nots 11/12/2024 Writes and Write-Nots I'm usually reluctant to make predictions about technology, but I feel fairly confident about this one: in a couple decades there won't be many people who can write. The reason so many people have trouble writing is that it's fundamentally difficult. To write well you have to think clearly, and thinking clearly is hard. AI has blown the new world open. Almost all pressure to write has dissipated. You can have AI do it for you, both in school and at work. The result will be a world divided into writes and write-nots. The middle ground between those who are good at writing and those who can't write at all will disappear. Instead of good writers, ok writers, and people who can't write, there will just be good writers and people who can't write. Is it bad? Yes. The reason is something I mentioned earlier: writing is thinking. In fact there's a kind of thinking that can only be done by writing. If you're thinking without writing, you only think you're thinking. It will be a world of thinks and think-nots.