That's ok, because you can.

I wrote this down after the phrase appearing as a shower thought one morning. I've been meaning to write about it for a while. I'm not sure I even scratch the surface of this thought let alone doing it justice. This post isn't really about motorcycles so if you've never ridden a motorcycle don't worry. If you have you will hopefully understand exactly what I mean when I say that riding a bike for fun is a completely different way of travelling than a car or other ground based transport. Even with a helmet on (ATGATT!) you're more connected to the outside world, more vulnerable. It takes physical effort to change the direction of the bike. Over low speeds you have to countersteer and ignore what your brain knows, that left is left and right is right. After a while on two wheels your body understands this principle and you are unconsciously competent in turning right but pushing left.

There's a lot of people throwing around phrases like "AI won't replace people. But people who use AI will replace those who don't." and "I want AI to do my laundry and dishes so that I can do art and writing, not for AI to do my art and writing so that I can do my laundry and dishes." After a while of all this AI stuff, I get tired of it, anxious, worried for the future of humanity. You know what though, a bot that talks (sometimes talks nonsense while projecting that it's genuine and true) isn't going to ride the bike. Not properly. Maybe one day it can power the "Mind" that makes two wheels go in a certain direction but it will likely never experience what it's like to ride the bike. Not like you can.

AI doesn't experience visceral feelings. It doesn't really tell right from wrong. It doesn't bring clarity after a long ride out either solo or with friends. It doesn't share a story with you about how you dropped your bike at low speed on a gravel car park. It won't nod understandingly when you talk about a moment on the motorway when you wished you had brought your brown trousers or when you felt something was off with the engine and it turned out that feeling was a mechanical problem.

AI, like a motorcycle, may leave you stranded on the side of a road. Unintentionally or otherwise.

I'm still on the fence about what the current most popular AI models actually do for us as a civilisation. There are applications of AI that are decades old that actually make a difference, catch things that humans can't, provide indicators that things aren't quite right that a real person could miss. Actual, objective good. On the flip side recently there has been a darkness as to how AI has been put to use. An excuse to cut a workforce. Generate untold amounts of revenue for a small number of people. Burn up massive amounts of energy for little actual good. AI doesn't reduce poverty or clean up our environment right now.

LLMs are all the rage. They can be incredibly useful if you know what to do with them. Just like being good at using a search engine used to be a thing. They can be damaging too though. Provide you with incorrect information that you don't pick up on. Be built within a framework that uses dark patterns to keep you engaged and "chatting" but not really getting anything done. I won't get into the insanity that is people befriending AIs. Get a pet rock or a stuffed animal. They'll give you the same levels of genuine emotion.

I don't doubt that AI is here to stay. I don't doubt that it can be harnessed and used for the common good but ultimately I doubt that it will ever know the feeling of riding a motorcycle.

Write into the void, send it out and let it find its audience. The electronic equivalent of dancing as if nobody is watching. Write even if nobody reads it. Write it to get the thoughts out of your brain. Write to order those thoughts and really reflect on whether what you write is what you believe in. Write to forget, to stop the thoughts circling round and round in your head. Rumination is bad for your health.

There's a phrase, you have two ears and one mouth so listen twice as much as you speak. Does this translate to writing? Read twice as much as you write? You can only write with one pencil or pen at a time unless you're an exceptional outlier. 

What about typing? Well, you'll probably type with both hands, but maybe it still holds true. Or what about write-once, edit many times? The measure twice, cut once of the written word.

For online posting, it doesn't matter what time you write or when you post. Frequency matters. If people like what you have to say, they'll want to read more of it. If you want a following, you have to regularly tell people things. Things that they want to know and understand. Or maybe things they want to hear so you can re-inforce the echo chamber they reside in with comfort. You can write at 8am or 9pm, or even 1am if you like. Write gibberish, write what you feel. Write what your brain says to write next. Edit in the cold light of day or when you are best rested. You might laugh at what you wrote. You might be happy with it. You'll find typos, better ways of saying things. Repetitive ideas or sentences get cut in the edit. 

Perhaps you'll find a better way to communicate your ideas to the universe. And people will read them. Or not. But if you don't put it out there, it can never be found. If you only write for yourself that's fine too. But if you want to be read, you have to send it out there. It's not inspirational. It's common sense.

Maybe you read this. One of approximately 8 billion people on the planet. If you did, thank you. These words were written in the daylight, not edited and were posted on a whim. But I hit Publish and didn't keep them sitting, rotting on a hard disk.