The ‘Not because X. But because Y’ content is everywhere now – Is this the new “em-dash”?

The past few months, I have had an experience that changed how I view AI. I wrote a book and used AI to help with the editing. It was faster, and why not?

But during that process, I realized how easily I could lose my voice if I let my guard down, even for a few seconds. At first, the AI-edited text sounded brilliant, but after letting it rest and reading it again after a few weeks, it felt bland, not like me at all. On top of that, some sentences that sounded completely “logical” at first actually made no sense at all. 

People often say, “Get good at prompt engineering and your results will be different.” I agree, and I don’t doubt my prompting techniques. What I really want to say is that AI models, especially ChatGPT and Claude, have become so good at reasoning and delivering seemingly-correct-and-convincing-results that they sometimes make us lower our guard. I certainly did. As a result, I had to stay up until 2-3 AM for almost two weeks, editing my book again… in the most traditional way possible.

The Two Wake-Up Calls I have Had Lately

Wake-Up Call #1: The first moment that forced me to step back was when I read an article analyzing different AI tools and their impact, written by an expert in the field. Immediately, I had the unsettling feeling that it was AI-generated. I couldn’t explain why, but the structures in that article were strangely familiar. I kept asking myself: Where did I see them? Where? Where? Where? And finally, I knew: my book.

I’m not against content polished by AI as I do it all the time and this very blog post will likely go through a refinement process with AI. But that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t write about it as I will approach it from a different angle.

I have started seeing the “Not X. But Y” structure everywhere, especially on LinkedIn. Suddenly, everyone seems pensive, thoughtful, themselves but not themselves at the same time. I have never read that much of the “Not because X. But because Y” structure before compared to now. I still love authentic content, even if it’s imperfect so it’s a bit sad to see this everywhere.

I have been asking myself this question too: what’s the point of doing things so fast? Do we have the same positive, rewarding feelings afterward? Somehow it was lower for me. Maybe I love struggling more than I thought :)) 

So, I am intentionally stepping away from AI a little bit to recover and rework my critical thinking skills. I realized sometimes it’s okay to spend a few hours brainstorming and thinking through a problem rather than just storming to an AI tool and finishing in minutes. AI can be a very good thinking partner buuuut don’t let yourself become its thinking partner afterall. 

Wake-Up Call #2: My second wake-up call happened when I got food poisoning during one of the year’s most important events, especially in my industry, the ITB in Berlin. It was probably one of the worst feelings I have experienced in the past 10 years, and it happened right before an important company evening. Thankfully, I was able to attend afterward.

During that moment of feeling weak, when my brain was slow, unable to focus, and I couldn’t be fully present, I had a realization: this could be the same feeling / same thing that might happen if I don’t train my brain enough. This sick, foggy condition could persist even on my normal days, intellectually. And I absolutely do not want that to happen to my mind.

I’ve spent the last few days reflecting on what happened in Berlin and during those events: what I did well and what I overlooked. I keep asking myself the same question: ‘If I had a second chance, what would I do differently? What are the mistakes I never want to make again? And how can I ensure that I won’t repeat them?’ 

After these two wake-up calls, I decided to focus on better structuring my brain’s health, mentally and physically, and reimagining my relationship with AI moving forward.

I have had this question in my head the past few days too: When ChatGPT first gained recognition, most of the content the model learned from was from humans. What about now? What about 10 years from now? What happens when AIs learn not only from humans but primarily from “themselves”? What future are we heading toward?