Author of The Quiet Cost, coming Nov. 27. The skills and relationships we risk losing as AI does more for us. Practice: https://xitter.cf/t.co/PTEU0FHn2M
Joined April 2026
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I am not Anti AI. I am not Pro AI.
My thesis is simple -- Like EVERY technology before it, it will have benefits that will remove friction, and when you remove friction, your skills atrophy.
And we can't let that happen. We have to supplement the skills people will lose.
“We can become accustomed to a new way of working before anyone has checked what people can still do without it.”
From The Quiet Cost, Chapter 11
thequietcost.ai
The Unpolished Message asks you to start with what you actually want a person to know. You can still edit it. Try writing to someone who will enjoy hearing from you, before asking AI how the message should sound.
thequietcost.app
The Lost Qualifier is an exercise in Reckonings No. 5 about noticing what gets left out of research headlines. A missing word can make a finding sound a lot more certain than it was in the actual study.
quietcostweekly.com/issues/k…
Do you have a regular plan with a friend that keeps you seeing each other? Who usually makes sure it happens, and does it tend to fall apart when that person gets busy?
Something's Off has a new kitchen challenge every day. Look, hold the details in mind, then find what changed. If you have a minute, try all five rounds. It gives your attention a little work that an AI summary cannot do for you.
thequietcost.app
“I want my nephews to grow up with people they can keep turning to, and that means having reasons to spend time with those people now.”
From The Quiet Cost, Chapter 10
thequietcost.ai
Getting something to eat is still how I see some of my friends. If we no longer needed meals, I wonder how often we would find another reason to get together. I wrote about that possibility in Should We Sustain?, at At a Cost.
atacost.substack.com/p/shoul…
I knew my mother wanted to hear where I wanted to eat when I was eight. These days, I can spend more time guessing what someone wants me to say than answering their question. I wanted to understand what changed.
atacost.substack.com/p/whate…
ALT Sunlight falls across wooden restaurant tables set with patterned plates, folded white napkins and cutlery, beside empty upholstered chairs. Photograph by Vincent Ghilione.
Have you ever rehearsed a difficult conversation and then heard something from the other person that changed what you wanted to say? Did you manage to let go of the argument you had prepared?
“A parent who does not remember algebra can ask for several hints rather than an answer.”
From The Quiet Cost, Chapter 9
thequietcost.ai
An instant explanation is convenient. In Black Box, you get to enjoy the part before it, when you are still testing what might be happening. Work out the rule behind the symbols, then see if you can predict the next results.
thequietcost.app
You used to watch a full game, and then the next day talk about it with your buddies and share your opinion
Now, everyone shares an entire dissertation after every play, and as a result, its all worthless.
My whole timeline is full of people saying Boston is on a different level from Detroit
AI can help you prepare for a conversation, but it doesn't know what the other person will actually say. Reckonings No. 7 looks at that kind of preparation and when to stop rehearsing and go talk to them.
quietcostweekly.com/issues/c…
Do you ever put off looking up an answer because you are enjoying trying to figure it out with someone? What was the last question you did that with?
The Reckonings memory game has a practice floor if one table is not enough. Choose four, five, or six guests and try carrying their orders in your head. It is a more entertaining memory exercise than staring at a list, at least to me.
thequietcost.app
Every fan base, in every sport, says that they "DESERVE" a good team.
How would that even work, mathematically?
“What I worry about is becoming so used to immediate explanations that we spend less time working out an uncertain feeling.”
From The Quiet Cost, Chapter 8
thequietcost.ai
If you keep saying you have no preference, your partner has very little to go on when they want to surprise you. Then it’s easy to feel overlooked by someone you’ve spent years leaving without clues.
atacost.substack.com/p/whate…
ALT Sunlight falls across wooden restaurant tables set with patterned plates, folded white napkins and cutlery, beside empty upholstered chairs. Photograph by Vincent Ghilione.
There is a detail on a notecard in Memento that I still can't decide was deliberate or a mistake. I wrote about why I keep coming back to it, and why I am not sure I would want Nolan to explain it to me.
At a Cost.
atacost.substack.com/p/why-i…