This @pluralistic essay really resonated with me. I've never been a disciplined writer in the sense of self-motivated productivity, but from an early age I discovered joy in writing as a way not just to express the ideas in my head, but to externalize them, massage them, make them better. It doesn't matter if I'm writing a 20 page paper or setting up a pun to post on social media, the act of getting the right words in the right order to express the right things brings me pleasure. In fact I'm pleasuring myself at this very moment. ;)

I look back at the few years I was paid to research and write as my favorite job. Even though celebrity bios and gossip weren't topics I'd have chosen, I got to go to work every day and write and how fun is that?

So yeah, it makes perfect sense that students are using AI to write for them when the only things they've been reward for writing might as well be AI-generated. Instead of asking kids to use words to share their inner worlds our education system asks them the produce TPS reports.

My career and education have seen me do both types of writing, and I can find joy in each but only because I learned when I was young that the writing itself can be rewarding even when I don't care about the topic.

https://pluralistic.net/2026/01/07/delicious-pizza/#hold-the-gravel