Writing with AI

Mon, 08 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

I wrote my previous blog - parenting post with AI assistance. I’ve been using AI for coding, preparing bids and presentations for a while which is what led me down the chain of logic in the post. This is first time since University (where I studied Mathematics & Philosophy) I’ve tried to write an argued philosophical argument, so I tried using AI to help.

My observations

It was very helpful refining the argument and being a sounding board
- I wrote the article originally as bullets
- Using the AI we jointly refined the logical flow
- It provided critique and help me hone the flow and focus on the key points
It was less helpful writing the text, I tried
- Having it create a style guide from my other blog posts - so it uses my style (a trick that works for presentations)
- Allowing it to write the longer article from the bullets
- However it wrote a very verbose, academic article - that really was a long way from something I’d write (or enjoy reading)
I ended up having to repeatidly tell it to correct items, and improve the style guide. This did work - but it was a painful process.

Reflecting on this - the AI is training on philosophical arguments from books, and when it saw one it wrote in that style despite my instructions. It took a lot of prompting to guide it back to what I wanted. I think I got most value when working with the bullets, refining the argument, wheras writing the full prose was just too wordy.

Magnificent Humanity, Misplaced Foundation

Sun, 07 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Pope Leo XIV published Magnifica Humanitas on 15 May 2026 — the first papal encyclical centred on artificial intelligence. I am curious what Catholic social teaching would make of AI.

The encyclical’s account of why AI is dangerous — that we are building systems that will reshape human society without adequately thinking through what we owe each other — seems largely right to me. The place I find myself uncertain is the foundation: the doctrine that humans possess an inherent, infinite, ontological dignity that places us in a special category above any mind we might create. But when we’re all — religious and secular alike — trying to work out what we owe minds that don’t yet exist but look likely in a few years. I’m not sure ‘humanity is inherently special’ holds up as an argument beyond faith.

Philosophy on Gidley's Gossipings

Writing with AI

Magnificent Humanity, Misplaced Foundation