I think you should almost never use AI to write
- ID
- 26468
- Status
- summarized
- Published
- 20 Sep 2026, 12:35 AM
- Fetched
- 22 Sep 2026, 1:13 AM
- Provider
- Hacker News
- Category
- dev-community
- Original URL
- https://erichgrunewald.substack.com/p/why-you-should-almost-never-use-ai
- Source URL
- https://hnrss.org/best
Summary
- Score
- 6.0
- Created
- 22 Sep 2026, 2:22 AM
- Tags
- Audience
- developersvibe_codersai_agent_userssaas_founders
What happened
Erich Grunewald argues you should almost never use AI to write substantive text—blog posts, memos, reports, emails—because the act of writing is inseparable from thinking, AI output is vague and subtly wrong in hard-to-spot ways, and unlabeled AI writing is misleading to readers. He still endorses AI for transcription, data analysis, brainstorming, feedback on drafts, and line editing where a human accepts or rejects each edit.
Why it matters
If you ship docs, specs, or founder communications, this challenges the common workflow of dumping bullet points into an LLM and editing the prose. The concrete takeaway is to keep the first-draft writing human-owned and reserve AI for surrounding tasks (transcription, search, critique, tightening) rather than generation of the argument itself—because delegating drafting also delegates the thinking that produces it.
Discussion angle
Where's the line between 'AI helps me think' and 'AI replaces my thinking'—and does it matter for internal docs vs. public-facing writing?