Contrariwise the Wizardly

Some Thoughts on AI

This represents my thoughts today. They’re different from what I thought a year ago. They’re different from what I’ll think in a year. Let people change their minds.

1. AI water usage is overblown. If you think AI uses a lot of water, I encourage you to look into how much water Netflix uses. Or the California almond crop.
   1. Lots of people really hate AI and they’re leaning into “but it’s using all the water” as a form of propaganda because the numbers sound really big if you don’t report them with context.
2. AI power usage is… Not overblown, exactly. Data centers use a lot of power. But again, compare it to something like YouTube. And if you’re still upset, realize this is a failing of our society to be able to build new power generation capacity, not a failing of the miracles of our modern world for needing power.
3. AI did steal basically all of the creative output of collective humanity. I agree. A better society would come up with a way to compensate the creators. This has happened before, and likely will happen again. That doesn’t make it right and I’m not going to defend it, but I think I can’t quite bring myself to be fully upset about it (even as I’m impacted by it) because we’re in good company.
   1. I don’t have much say in what happens. I have near infinite say in how I choose to feel about it. Being angry has almost never been a useful state. Accepting that which I cannot change and learning to use the new tools has measurably and drastically improved my life. Your mileage may vary.
4. AI can, but that doesn’t mean you have to. Let it do the work in places where you’d rather not, so that you can spend more time where joy is sparked.
   1. Do you like writing words? Then keep doing it. Find the parts of writing you didn’t like, and ask the AI to help you. AI is a better editor than I am. I still write all of my blog posts the human way, but I often ask Claude to take a look before I post them, and it finds all sorts of typos.
   2. Do you like writing code? Great, lots of AI code lives in the realm of “good enough,” but there are places that need better than that. Write the fundamental primitives the AI will go on to orchestrate.
   3. Do you like writing test coverage? I can’t imagine it myself, and I’ve never met the developer who thought this was the fun part of the job. Let the AI do it. Or, if you truly do find this part satisfying, write good, comprehensive, fast tests. There’s a place for this.

Some of the smartest people I know have proposed some potential outcomes for AI that sound like the wildest science fiction. I think the probability of those outcomes is not zero, but I don’t think they’re as inevitable as sometimes reported.

“I wish it need not have happened in my time,” said Frodo. “So do I,” said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”

― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

“Stick your chest out and go like — fuck it. Let’s try.”

— Bruce Straley, Co-Founder, Wildflower Interactive @ GDC 2026​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Tired: Harry Potter houses.

Wired: Winnie the Pooh characters.

Tag yourself. I’m Owl.

Lyft died halfway between LAX and Anaheim. The driver only speaks Mandarin, I only speak English.

His phone is translating to English for me, my phone is translating to Mandarin for him.

He says it’s doing a pretty good job.

So anyway, we live in the future.

“why am i like this” Digital Art, 2026

Did I go to a book store in the gayborhood? Yes.
Did they have a Dune tarot deck? Yes.
Am I now in possession of a Dune tarot deck?

A lady never kwisatz and tells.

I’ve never been particularly interested in conforming to society’s expectations.

I learned to fake it, for the benefit of fitting in.

Now, with the benefit of some duly earned confidence, society is welcome to fit in Deez Nuts.

The thinnest naturally occurring material is Free Hotel Breakfast Bacon.

Much could be learned by studying the processes that lead to such delicate structures.

It’s an interesting conundrum. The person I actually am trying to build the person I’d like to be, using the constraints of my known behaviors to try to push on the rudder of the behaviors I’d like to change.