“I Don’t Read AI-Written Content” Is the Dumbest Take of 2026

I hear it more and more.

“I don’t read anything written with AI.”“If I see an em dash, I mute.”“If it smells like ChatGPT, I’m out.”

Let me be very clear.

This position is not smart.It is not principled.And it is absolutely not future-proof.

It is emotional resistance disguised as intellectual purity.

And worse, it completely misses the point.

The Real Question Is Not “Was This Written by AI?”

The real question is brutally simple:

Is there something worth saying?

Ideas matter.Insight matters.Experience matters.

Formatting does not.Grammar does not.Perfect English does not.

Writing has never been the point.

Thinking has.

Most People Confuse Writing Skill With Intelligence

This is the core confusion.

For centuries, we have mistakenly associated writing fluency with intellectual value.

If you write well, you are perceived as smart.If you write poorly, you are perceived as shallow.

This is wrong.

Some of the smartest people I know write terribly.Some of the best writers I know have very little to say.

Writing is a skill.Thinking is another one.

They are not the same.

And they never were.

Ghostwriters Existed Long Before AI

Let’s talk about the elephant in the room.

Ghostwriting is not new.

Presidents used speechwriters.CEOs used ghostwriters.Athletes used ghostwriters.Founders used ghostwriters.

Books. Speeches. Letters. Memoirs.

Everyone knew.No one cared.

Why?

Because the ideas were still theirs.

No one ever said:“I refuse to read this book because the author did not physically type every sentence.”

That would have sounded ridiculous.

And yet, somehow, when the ghostwriter is software, people lose their minds.

AI Is a Ghostwriter That Scales

That’s all it is.

AI is not thinking for me.AI is not inventing my ideas.AI is not replacing my experience.

AI is helping me:

• Structure thoughts

• Remove language friction

• Fix grammar

• Clarify logic

• Compress noise

The ideas are mine.

The scars are mine.The experience is mine.The opinions are mine.

AI is just the tool that makes them readable.

Especially when English is not your native language.

Language Barriers Have Silenced Smart People for Too Long

This part matters.

A lot.

Most of the world does not think in English.

Yet English dominates:

• Business

• Tech

• Academia

• Media

• Thought leadership

For decades, brilliant people were excluded simply because they could not express themselves fluently.

They had the ideas.They had the experience.They had the insight.

They just did not have the language mechanics.

AI removes that barrier.

That is not cheating.

That is leveling the playing field.

Saying “I Don’t Read AI Content” Is a Privileged Take

Let’s be honest.

That stance only works if:

• You are a native speaker

• You already have visibility

• You have already reached

• You already have confidence

For everyone else, AI is not a substitute for laziness.

It is access.

Access to expression.Access to clarity.Access to participation.

Rejecting that is not noble.

It is exclusionary.

The World Is Not Going Back

Here is the uncomfortable truth.

Everything will be AI-augmented.

Emails.Reports.Presentations.Articles.Code.Design.Video.Voice.

This is not a trend.

This is infrastructure.

Saying “I refuse to engage with AI-assisted content” is like saying:“I refuse to read emails written with spellcheck.”

Good luck with that.

What Actually Matters Going Forward

The filter is changing.

Before:

• Can you write well?

Now:

• Can you think clearly?

Before:

• Can you sound smart?

Now:

• Do you have something original to say?

Before:

• Can you perform intelligence?

Now:

• Can you demonstrate insight?

AI kills performative intelligence.

And that is why some people hate it.

The Em Dash Obsession Is Peak Absurdity

Let’s address the meme.

“If I see an em dash, I block.”

This is not discernment.

This is superstition.

It is the intellectual equivalent of judging a book by its font.

You are not protecting quality.You are avoiding thought.

And you are signaling fear, not sophistication.

AI Does Not Reduce Authenticity

Bad ideas written by AI are still bad ideas.

Good ideas written with AI are still good ideas.

AI does not magically make content interesting.It only makes it readable.

If you are bored by what I write, fine.

But be bored by the ideas, not the tool.

Augmentation Has Always Been the Point

We augment humans all the time.

Glasses augment vision.Cars augment legs.Calculators augment math.GPS augments memory.

AI augments expression.

Why would writing be sacred?

Why would language be frozen in time?

It is not.

The Real Divide Is Not AI vs Human

The real divide is:

Thinkers vs repeaters

AI exposes this brutally.

If you have no ideas, AI will not save you.If you do, AI will amplify you.

That is why this debate feels emotional.

Some people lose an advantage.Others gain voice.

My Position Is Simple

I use AI openly.

Not to think for me.Not to fake expertise.Not to manufacture depth.

I use it to:

• Translate my thinking into clean language

• Structure complex ideas

• Remove friction between the thought and the reader

If that bothers you, that is fine.

But it is not my problem.

Final Thought

Judging content by how it was written instead of what it says is lazy thinking.

The future belongs to people who:

• Think clearly

• Build intelligently

• Use tools without shame

• Stay human while going fast

AI is not replacing thinking.

It is removing excuses.

And that makes many people uncomfortable.