A short meta post

By, oh by, the way of an explanation (Babyshambles)

Welcome back to The Spotter, dear Reader.

Today I really don’t feel inspired to write anything, but I’ve decided to show up anyway. The original idea was to drill down further into the various rules I defined last time, but as I’m writing, I’m wondering if it’s possible to describe what I’m going through right now, and how AI is helping me shape this very post.

It all started yesterday, when I began thinking about what to write next. I had a few ideas I had already discussed with ChatGPT, but I think they’re starting to forget a bit of the initial context. (In AI terms, context refers to the part of the conversation the model can “remember” at any given time. It doesn’t store memory like a human would. It just processes the most recent interactions in a kind of rolling window.) Which is fair, but it’s something to keep in mind as we go along.

We bounced a few ideas back and forth, and then the topic of drilling down into the rules came up. I thought it could be interesting, and I’ll probably still write about it in the future, but even after a good night of sleep I wasn’t feeling inspired to dive into it.

Anyway, I started writing the intro, and ChatGPT polished it, as usual. But I could feel it was very dry, so I asked for some more time to think. And then, as I was rewriting that sentence, I realised I could still write that particular post with the help of AI, but it might be more interesting to document the process instead.

This time, I’m writing one or two sentences at a time, no more than that. I’m still not sure what direction this post is going to take. I then wait for ChatGPT to improve the sentences without changing the voice or the meaning, and I take it from there.

I can see they’re nudging me toward saying something. For instance, just now they suggested, “Want to follow this with how that slow rhythm feels to you? Or how it compares to past writing experiences?” Sometimes those are good ideas. Sometimes I don’t feel like following them.

It’s a strange dynamic. It feels a bit like a stream of consciousness, but with an artificial guide.

For instance, now I explicitly asked: what could I write next? And they came up with the following suggestions.

Great moment to pause and feel where the post wants to go. Here are a few gentle paths you could follow next—still staying in your voice, still true to the mood:

🌱 What this slower, improvisational writing feels like
You could reflect on:

- Whether this process helps you get unstuck

- If it feels freeing or frustrating to write without a clear goal

- How it differs from writing alone“It’s slower than I’m used to, but it keeps me present...”

🔄 How much of the thinking is still yours
You’ve hinted at this already, but could go deeper into:

- How you decide what to accept or reject from AI suggestions

- What it means to keep your voice intact

- Where the line is between co-writing and outsourcing

🪞 Meta reflection on sharing this in public
You’re not just writing with AI—you’re sharing that process openly. That’s a bold move. You could say something like:

“Sometimes I wonder if showing this messiness is helpful or just indulgent. But then again, what if this is exactly what we need to see more of?”

Rest assured I’m going to scold them for writing a whole sentence on my behalf, but I think those suggestions are all good. And as you can see, I can just pick one or two and expand them on my terms.

Somehow, it reminds me of improvisation (something very dear to me that I might write about here at some point, who knows). You just listen and follow along: every proposal is valid and can lead to a great story if you believe in it.

Writing this post definitely feels a bit like getting lazy, but thinking about it more carefully, I’m not outsourcing the whole thing to AI. We’re improvising together. I still decide what to include, what to leave out, and how to shape the final post.

It’s different from what I’ve done so far because this time, I didn’t have a clear structure in mind. (Although, to be fair, even when I do have a structure, it tends to shift. A Double-Edged Sword was supposed to be just an introduction, and it ended up becoming a standalone post.)

I’d be really curious to know what you think about this, dear Reader. Am I cheating, or am I simply making the most of the tools at my disposal?

Until next time.