What's this about?
The author collects essays that temper AI enthusiasm and draws three personal lines: do not let AI write, read or take notes in place of him. The concern is not today's obvious errors but losing the thinking that happens during those activities.
What exactly is a “reverse centaur”?
A centaur is a human using a machine as an assistant; a reverse centaur is a system that turns the human into its helper — for example, asking a colleague to review an AI document its sender did not read.
What's the community saying?
HN 72 points and 12 comments.
- Supporters discussed authenticity, model-generated text contaminating the public record and the loss of learning from making one's own notes.
- Several people made an exception for meeting notetakers because they allow fuller attention to the person speaking.
- Critics called the pledge hyperbolic and argued that ordinary AI use does not threaten love, art or community.
- Others replied that the evangelical behaviour appears on both sides: relentless AI promotion can feel as ideological as refusal.