About this blog

Lately, I can’t help but feel that as the generative capabilities of LLMs improve, my own ability to think is declining in inverse proportion.

When I ask an LLM to look into topics of interest, it neatly researches and summarises its findings into a report. A quick skim is often enough to give me the illusion of understanding the topic. While LLMs are undeniably convenient, it sometimes feels like I’m caught in an endless cycle of generating and consuming ’easy-to-digest content’, leaving me sceptical about whether my own understanding or thoughts are actually deepening. Moreover, it is often the case that, when I dig into the details, I’m disappointed to find out that the nuances or finer facts are different from what LLMs allege to be true.

So, the satisfaction I get from grasping a topic through LLM-generated summaries might just be a mirage. I could simply be wasting time mindlessly consuming content, entirely oblivious to the misinformation hidden within. Because of this, I’ve decided that for topics I truly care about, I want to deepen my understanding the old-fashioned way: by gathering, scrutinising, organising, and reflecting on the information myself. I need to start using my brain again. And since I’ll be going through all that effort anyway, I decided I might as well publish the results - which is how this blog came to be.

On a related note, lately I’ve been coming across more and more articles online that appear to be AI-generated. I can’t articulate it (and hence I wouldn’t say my detection rate is 100%), but there’s a certain ‘smell’ to AI-generated text. Once I pick up on that, I start questioning whether the ‘author’ (or the person who tapped Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V) has performed sufficient fact-checking, or what their objective is in the first place. At that point, I’m put off reading any further almost instantly.

For these reasons, you won’t find any AI-generated content on this blog. Not even a single sentence. Instead, I’ll be processing the information using my own brain, organising my thoughts as I type everything out myself. (See ‘My AI Policy’ below for details.)

If the output of this process ends up being useful to someone out there, I would be delighted - that would be a real bonus.

My AI Policy

Definition

In this context, “AI” refers to tools that generate text, images, or videos, primarily LLMs.

Accountability

Even when AI is utilised for supplementary purposes such as translation or proofreading, the ultimate responsibility for the published text rests entirely with the author.

However, the information provided on this blog (including commentary on legislation) is strictly for reference purposes and does not constitute professional legal or other advice. The author accepts no liability whatsoever for any loss or detriment arising as a consequence of relying on the information published herein. Any use of this information is made strictly at your own risk.

I will NOT use AI for the following

  • Copy-pasting AI-generated text directly, or partially/entirely modifying it to publish on this blog. (However, as noted below, translating my own original writing using an LLM is an exception.)
  • Using AI outputs as primary sources, or writing posts without thoroughly verifying the original sources behind the AI-generated text.

I WILL use AI for the following

  • Research: Gathering information, translating, or summarising content to better understand a specific or related topic.
  • Proofreading my own writing: Catching typos, removing unnecessary punctuation or symbols, and fact-checking to ensure my own brain isn’t hallucinating.
  • Translation:
    • Translating my own writing: Translating my posts and other text within this blog from Japanese to English, or vice versa.
    • Translating English/Japanese words, sentences and paragraphs cited from the sources I refer to in my posts.
  • Formatting citations: Formatting bibliographies and references (e.g., Oxford referencing because doing it manually is a pain).
  • Using generated images, videos, or audio: I will clearly state when these are AI-generated. (To be honest, I’m not a fan of image/video generation tools, so I probably won’t use them much - but just in case.)

About me

Mori Sugimoto

Realising the immense potential of information technology while working on humanitarian aid projects in the Balkans and South East Asia, I earned a Bachelor’s degree in IT from a university in the US.

I came across Drupal in 2006 after moving to the UK. Since then, I’ve been involved in various projects across Europe, the US, and Japan, utilising a range of OSS.

After the UK decided to leave the EU, I decided to leave the UK. Since 2017, I have been a resident of the Netherlands - a beautiful country populated by exceptionally tall people and many cows.

Contact

For comments, work inquiries, or just to say hi, feel free to drop me a line at [email protected] . But no spam please.