By August 2026, Yahia and I had enough.
Over many months we had become increasingly frustrated and disillusioned with all the AI slop.
Wherever we went, wherever we looked, we saw the hand of AI at work. On LinkedIn, for example, “connection” requests are written by AI, entire posts are written by AI, the comments under those posts are AI, and the automated DMs triggered from those comments are AI.
Even writing the word AI makes me feel like I want to vomit.
It’s everywhere.
That real, personal touch that once characterized our interactions is rapidly dissipating.
We are losing who we are.
To think is to be human
Fundamentally, Yahia and I are against the complete outsourcing of our writing, thinking and creativity to a machine.
To write is to think. And to think is to be human. Without nurturing this ability, and the natural and necessary struggle that comes with it, we lose what’s most important in life and what we are called to become.
Over time, deep down, we’ll feel like frauds and lose our confidence, and then, finally, our identity. The end result is likely even more isolation.
Don’t lose your humanity
So this community, By the Pen, is for those who don’t want to lose their humanity. In fact, they want to reclaim it.
This is for the writers. Those who recognize that writing is sacred.
Perhaps you’ve been tempted to use AI to write an entire post, newsletter or e-book. Maybe at times you’ve even over-used it, but somewhere deep down, something feels wrong, uncomfortable, unsettling.
Human beings are the greatest, most intelligent creation in the cosmos, with potential that can reach the skies.
That potential exists within all of us.
We can either cultivate it, or die, spiritually.
Let’s strive to reignite our humanity.
It’s time to become human.