Last Modified: May 8, 2026

Before getting into how I use artificial intelligence (AI), I first want to call out that I do ALL of my writing myself. Since I first started writing technically in 2014, I have never been comfortable working with ghostwriters or having other people write or speak on my behalf. So why would I treat AI any different? I don’t believe AI is as trustworthy as a ghostwriter would be, so I’ve been very selective about how it gets incorporated into my work.

Technology

I am fortunate enough to have experimented with a number of different technologies and have sufficient resources on my local development machine to run various models. While cloud-hosted solutions offer a lot of value, I don’t have an infinite amount of money to throw at dozens of different solutions.

For anything text-related, I leverage Ollama and various AI assistants like Claude and Cline for development work.

How I Use AI

My AI usage has evolved significantly over time. Here’s how I incorporate it into my workflow:

Writing & Editing

I use AI to help edit my own writing, but never to generate it. This includes:

• Exploring alternative wordings for sentences to reduce complexity
• Iterating on statements to improve clarity and strength
• Identifying problematic areas that may need further detail
• Turning text into speech when proofreading articles

Development & Prototyping

This is where AI has become invaluable to my workflow:

• Rapid Prototyping: Building proof-of-concept implementations quickly to validate ideas
• DevOps Tooling: Creating automation scripts, CI/CD pipelines, and infrastructure code
• Boilerplate Generation: Speeding up the creation of repetitive code structures
• Code Review: Getting suggestions for improvements and identifying potential issues
• Documentation: Generating initial drafts of technical documentation that I then refine

The key distinction is that I treat AI-generated code as a starting point that requires my review, understanding, and refinement. I never blindly accept AI suggestions without comprehending what they do and ensuring they align with best practices and my specific requirements.

My Philosophy

AI is a tool, not a replacement for critical thinking and expertise. I use it to accelerate certain tasks and explore possibilities faster, but the final decisions, implementations, and especially all written content remain authentically mine.