David's Saturday AI Thoughts

The proxy break

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AI broke the old proxy (good writing = good thinking) but the new proxy ('sounds like AI' = no thinking) is equally unreliable. A friend's challenge prompted a deeper question: evaluate thinking, not wording. Two tests proposed: Quality (does the argument hold under pressure?) and Ownership (CEO principle). Fine-tuned models now preferred over human writing 62% of the time.

What happened this week
  • AI cover letters killed the signal: Freelancer.com study shows Goodhart's Law in action, better letters no longer predict better hires
  • Snap cut 1,000 jobs (16% workforce), AI writes 65% of new code, $500M annualised savings: substitution model has arrived
  • Passive AI delegation erodes confidence, pushing back strengthens it: 2,000-person study. Gartner: of 5.4hr saved, only 0.6hr reduces working time
    • What to try
    • Ask what keeps people awake at night, not how AI can help: surfaces real problems with AI solutions
    • Let the model research you before writing custom instructions: web search + self-portrait generates better instructions than manual writing
    • Find where your AI value sits: AI Value Map interactive tool, five questions on value allocation then five on capture

      • Read the full edition with all links and sources

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      David's Saturday AI ThoughtsBy David Boyle