More Than a Tool

Stop saying that AI is just a tool and it only matters how it is used

I’m tired of this phrase and this simple way of thinking about tools. This blog post is a wandering train of thought on the topic of what tools are and why it matters to be even slightly more mature in how we think about them.

Unresolved debates about the future of AI

How far the current paradigm can go, AI improving AI, and whether thinking of AI as a tool will keep making sense

AI is not a tool.

"Like all tools, it has its pros and cons. It brings about radical changes, but we'll adapt." This cliché was true for previous technologies. But it isn’t necessarily true for AI. A tool extends the human body or percept...

How we use AI at Stalwart

It is difficult to have a conversation about software in 2026 without AI showing up in it. Two years ago the interesting question was…

AI Is a Waste of Time

The newest AI tools are accelerating basic research and scaring the general public. But many people are simply using them as toys.

The Scaling Era: An Oral History of AI, 2019–2025

An inside view of the AI revolution, from the people an…

AI, Learned Today

AI, Learned Today is a learning-in-public journal about how to use modern AI through my everyday use. It’s a place to share what I tried, what I noticed, and what I’m learning. Honest field notes from someone exploring the field of rapidly evolving AI tools.

I don’t think we are close to “AI scientists”

Today's AI agents are not designed to extract deep insights from new observations.

Human–AI Collaboration at Scale: Task Criticality, Agency, and Friction Across 250,000 Conversations

Stanford University researchers analyzed nearly 250,000 real-world human-AI conversations from Claude.ai to understand collaborative dynamics, finding that over half of interactions involve...

They all use it

Last week, at a conference, I had a random hallway conversation with another engineer. About AI.

What we (don’t) talk about when we talk about AI

Everybody’s talking about it; everybody’s tired of talking about it. Why aren’t we making more progress in the discussion?

The Scaling Era: An Oral History of AI, 2019–2025

An inside view of the AI revolution, from the people and companies making it happen.

AI tools make things up a lot, and that’s a huge problem | CNN Business

Artificial intelligence-powered tools like ChatGPT have mesmerized us with their ability to produce authoritative, human-sounding responses to seemingly any prompt. But as more people turn to this buzzy technology for things like homework help, workplace research, or health inquiries, one of its biggest pitfalls is becoming increasingly apparent: AI models sometimes just make things up.

A guide to understanding AI as normal technology

And a big change for this newsletter