Salman Ansari

I have been stuck. Every time I sit down to write a blog post, code a feature, or start a project, I come to the same realization: in the context of AI, what I’m doing is a waste of time. It’s horrifying. The fun has been sucked out of the process of creation because nothing I make organically can compete with what AI already produces—or soon will. All of my original thoughts feel like early drafts of better, more complete thoughts that simply haven’t yet formed inside an LLM.

I empathize with the author. But it also reinforces a feeling I’ve had lately: One must live in order to write, to have something to say. If you are going out into the world, changing things, changing yourself, then ideas come to you and you can channel them. But the channeling and expression in digital essay writing shouldn’t be the majority, it should be just one piece of a big puzzle.

If writing and thinking about writing is your life, then yes, AI can replace it. But you can become “unLLMable” by having a rich life that you want to live. Out in the real world. Let AI accelerate the expression a bit, if you want. Or don’t. But protect, foster and grow the most important part: human experience.

In an age where attention spans have shrunk, just enough to handle the brevity of TikTok videos. Commitment is measured in minutes. We’ve taken the sacred and turned it into a sampler. Spirituality has become a bizarre buffet. A little of everything….mindfulness, a little bit of mantras, a pop of psychology, a sprinkle of astrology—and we call it spirituality. Add to that a dash of Zen, a spoonful of Krishna, a whiff of Jesus, topped with a sprinkle. Of Rumi and a side of “I read The Secret once.” Voila! We call it “my own spiritual path.” 

In reality, it’s more like spiritual fast food—convenient, quick, comforting… and utterly devoid of nutritional value.