Glad hard things are hard

We think we want to make things easier.

But do we, really?

When a writer gives their writing to AI to do, it becomes easier.

Except a good writer looks upon the result and sighs.

Perhaps they could doctor the resulting prose into something acceptable. But the heart of the piece never really starts beating. They long for the discomfort of a blank page, where they can go to war with words and write something full of life.

Perhaps they could avoid writing with it and just use it for research. But the clinical, sanitised output lacks so much context. They long for the memories of toiling for the information they need, the kindling from which sparks fly when it’s time to write.

Maybe we didn’t want to make things easier after all.

Maybe it sounded better in our heads, but reality lacked humanity.

Maybe it being hard is what distinguishes coal from diamonds.

Maybe we should be glad hard things are hard.