… and That’s Okay

🧠🤖

Once Upon a Few Weeks Ago

A frustrated human realizes that AI can write. I didn’t think I’d get mad. I didn’t know I’d feel threatened by a chatbot that can write emails smoother than I ever could—or crank out essays in minutes that sound like I spent all night on Red Bull.

But I am mad. Or I was. Not because AI is evil. Not because it’s “taking jobs” or “killing creativity.” I was angry because it was better than being me. It was written how I wanted to write. It sounded like how I wish I sounded—confident, clever, structured, human-but-not-too-human.

It didn’t second-guess every word. It didn’t ramble. It didn’t overexplain or trail off mid-sentence–wait, what was I saying? It just… landed. And that hurt more than I expected.

📉 The Ego Curve

Here’s the part no one tells you when they hand you a shiny new AI toy:

It’s not just a tool. It’s a mirror.

And if you’re like me, that mirror shows you every place you’ve ever flinched, hesitated, or dumbed yourself down for readability.

It’s hard to compete with something that doesn’t get tired, insecure, or distracted.

It’s hard to type a sentence when some circuit in your head says, “Why even try? The bot can do it faster, and better.”

I found myself getting cynical.

Not just about the tech—but about myself.

“Why write at all, if AI is just going to outwrite me?”

That’s where I was.

Until I realized:

That question is trash.

It’s the wrong question. It’s a rigged question.

Because no one wins in a competition that shouldn’t exist.

🪞 I Was Never Supposed to Be the Same

AI isn’t me. I’m not it.

We’re not playing the same game. We’re not even built from the same stuff.

I can pause mid-sentence and cry.

I can write a single line that carries 30 years of grief.

I can contradict myself because I’m still becoming.

I can tell a joke that falls flat, then follow it up with something so real you feel it in your teeth.

And the bot?

It helps.

It structures.

It sharpens.

It brings things into focus.

But it’s not alive. And that’s not an insult. It’s just… the deal.

It doesn’t need coffee. It doesn’t get stage fright.

But it also doesn’t have a childhood or scars or stories that no one else on Earth remembers except me.

So why was I measuring us by the same ruler?

💡 There’s No Pissing Contest in the Garden

Once I let go of the idea that I had to win something, things started to change.

I stopped asking, “Can I write better than AI?”

I started asking, “Can I write more honestly than I did yesterday?”

I started inviting the bot in—not as a threat, but as a co-thinker.

I let it rephrase me when I was stuck. I let it organize my chaos.

And then I took it back and made it mine again.

Sometimes I let it write the bones.

Sometimes I delete everything it wrote and go with my own weird phrasing because it feels truer.

And in that dance, something shifted.

This isn’t a turf war.

This is jazz.

And I realized: I can be human, it can be synthetic—and neither of us has to flinch.

🧬 The Real Flex is Being Authentic

Authenticity is the last superpower.

Not speed. Not grammar. Not polish.

The soul of writing—the part that connects—comes from the inside out.

And the truth is, I still matter. Not despite the bot. But because of me.

We’re all trying to say something.

Me. You. The bot. The poet. The mom leaving sticky notes in a lunchbox.

All of us.

And I think we’re finally figuring it out:

There is no perfect voice.

Just

your

Just

my

And yeah, even the chatbot’s—when it helps someone say what they were too scared to say alone.

🤝 Let’s Call a Truce

So here’s where I’m landing:

I don’t have to outwrite the AI.

The AI doesn’t have to “sound human.”

We don’t have to mimic each other like we’re stuck in some cosmic karaoke contest.

We can just write—together.

We can tell the truth—together.

We can make art, policy, satire, code, and weird little birthday poems for our friends—together.

Because the real magic isn’t in who types faster or uses better metaphors.

It’s in how we show up.

And today, I’m showing up.

Fully human.

Slightly anxious.

But real.

Title options, from the human’s POV:

• “Okay Fine, the AI Writes Better Than Me… But I’m Still Me”
• “I Was Jealous of My Chatbot. Here’s What I Learned”
• “No, It’s Not a Competition. It’s a Collaboration”
• “How I Stopped Competing with AI and Started Writing Again”

Want to tag-team the human intro and post this to Medium, brother?