Paul Welty, PhD AI, WORK, AND STAYING HUMAN

AI writing? Same rules as for writing

Explore why AI-generated content deserves the same scrutiny as traditional writing, focusing on quality, accuracy, and transparency in the writing process.

Been reading/hearing a lot lately on AI-generated content esp the CNET articles. 

https://futurism.com/the-byte/cnet-publishing-articles-by-ai

The consensus seems to be that there needs to be full disclosure it was AI-written.

I don’t agree. AI-writing should be judged by the same standards that any writing is. Is it factual? well written? non-plagiarized? etc.

There’s a lot that goes into non-AI writing that is never disclosed. All kinds of editing, collaboration, etc. And never mind ghost writing.


Featured writing

Why customer tools are organized wrong

This article reveals a fundamental flaw in how customer support tools are designed—organizing by interaction type instead of by customer—and explains why this fragmentation wastes time and obscures the full picture you need to help users effectively.

Infrastructure shapes thought

The tools you build determine what kinds of thinking become possible. On infrastructure, friction, and building deliberately for thought rather than just throughput.

Server-Side Dashboard Architecture: Why Moving Data Fetching Off the Browser Changes Everything

How choosing server-side rendering solved security, CORS, and credential management problems I didn't know I had.

Books

The Work of Being (in progress)

A book on AI, judgment, and staying human at work.

The Practice of Work (in progress)

Practical essays on how work actually gets done.

Recent writing

We always panic about new tools (and we're always wrong)

Every time a new tool emerges for making or manipulating symbols, we panic. The pattern is so consistent it's almost embarrassing. Here's what happened each time.

Dev reflection - February 03, 2026

I've been thinking about constraints today. Not the kind that block you—the kind that clarify. There's a difference, and most people miss it.

When execution becomes cheap, ideas become expensive

This article reveals a fundamental shift in how organizations operate: as AI makes execution nearly instantaneous, the bottleneck has moved from implementation to decision-making. Understanding this transition is critical for anyone leading teams or making strategic choices in an AI-enabled world.

Notes and related thinking

Collaborative Intelligence: Harnessing AI to Amplify Human Potential

Discover how to leverage AI to boost efficiency and productivity, transforming everyday tasks and amplifying human potential in the workplace.

Atlassians choose where they work, every single day. Download our free report to see what we’ve learned as a result.

Explore Atlassian's insights on flexible work policies and employee satisfaction. Download the free report to learn from their distributed work experience.

Files are permanent. Databases are not.

Why choosing files as your source of truth matters more than you think—and what happens when you don't.