When I struggle with something changing in the world I often turn to books. I’m an avid reader of diverse interests.

Right now, I’m looking at my bookshelf to try and figure out a perceived shift around AI.

My 3 1/2-year journey with AI.

In December 2022, I first used ChatGPT. AI wrote a scary good blog article on social media marketing (my expertise) in less than a minute — something that would take me hours.

By December 2024, I spent two years writing about AI without using AI in my writing process ending every post with “100% Human Created.”

By Fall 2024, my LinkedIn feed felt full of criticisms of how woefully behind professors were. We weren’t doing enough to prepare students for the future. In 2024 LinkedIn added the “Enhance with AI” button encouraging users to use AI in writing their posts.

I decided to better understand AI I needed to use it more in the research and writing process – something I do frequently. How can I help professionals and students navigate AI without firsthand experience?

In Spring 2025, I first used AI more directly to write about AI. I wanted direct experience with the new reasoning models to see how they “think” and to help me better understand AI agents and how they may impact our jobs and our students’ jobs.

That began my journey this past year in using AI to assist in the writing process. It’s been an experiment and I’m learning where AI can genuinely be helpful and where it can be harmful for experienced professionals and for students first learning their profession. I began ending every blog post with various forms of “AI assisted in this post…”

Beyond that first experiment in 2022, I haven’t used AI to write an entire post. My background is an advertising copywriter and I write as a professor. The last thing I want is AI to replace writers and the writing process. Yet, I’m also a realist and know employers will increasingly seek professionals and students who know how to use AI properly to improve their work.

When I don’t know or understand something I force myself to try it and write about it. In the process I learn. That’s what I’ve done with AI.

The shift in the wind?

But its felt different in my LinkedIn feed recently. The calls to “use AI or your behind” seem to have been replaced instead with “use AI and you’re a fraud.”

What feels like almost overnight, LinkedIn removed their “Enhance with AI” button for writers and replaced it with a new “Seems like AI slop” button for readers.

I know there’s an all AI generated content problem, but I’m not sure encouraging us to report each other of suspected AI use is the solution. Some writers are intentionally adding typos out of fear.

I’m still learning by writing — trying to figure out the jagged edge of AI help versus AI harm. Maybe I find better ways to use it. Maybe I decide to use it less. Perhaps I decide not to use it at all for certain tasks. I don’t have it all figured out. One thing I do know is the answer is somewhere in the middle — somewhere between “woefully behind” and “AI fraud.”

What I have I learned from my bookshelf?

First, S.I. Hayakawa reminds me that the language we use matters because Language directs Thought and Action. He also reminds me that most things in life are not either all evil or all good (two-value orientation). Depending on how you use it, can AI be both beneficial and harmful on a scale (multi-value orientation).

More recent books raise questions. Are we to be AI First or is AI Snake Oil? Mollick introduced me to AI as Co-intelligence. Is it or are we on a slippery slope to no-intelligence?

Bradbury gets me wondering if we’re sounding the alarm on each other – sending out the Mechanical Hounds. Postman lessens my hope as I ponder whether we are destined for Technopoly – where efficiency and technological progress replaces human judgment and wisdom.

Then I spot Ross Gay’s essays and fondly remember his in person reading where everyone in the room was visibly moved. Can we come together, even in this unprecidented time of change, to Incite Joy?

Maybe the winds aren’t as strong or shifting as I perceive. My view is skewed by social media algorithms that emphasize extremes for engagement – even LinkedIn. Perhaps I need more time with my books and less time in my feed. That brings me to the final question that came to mind looking at my bookshelf:

Are we wearing AI stars or removing them?

100% Human Created Content! This post was written without any AI assistance. Em dashes & other “AI tells” are mine.