Writing and Walking
Walking is already a choice. Writing will become a choice.
I occasionally get the question whether I use ChatGTP or other Generative AI tools for my essays. I don’t.
Not out of principle. I sometimes use ‘Artificial Intelligence’ for writing, but only for texts that are — well — unimportant. For texts that need to be written, but don’t need to be read. If you have reached a certain age and a certain professional level, you know what kind of texts I am talking about. My rule of thumb is: if you use ChatGPT in order to write a text, then it is probably not worth reading.
But writing is not only about reading.
I usually don’t think about my readers. It is nice and rewarding to know that someone out there is reading and enjoying my texts. But I staunchly believe that if you have something to say, your audience will find you. Not the other way round.
I mainly write for myself. There is no better way to contemplate an idea. Writing allows me to ponder questions, to explore ideas and to articulate my thoughts.
The tragedy of ChatGPT is not that people no longer write — the tragedy is that they no longer think. Writing forces you to organise your thoughts. To outline an argument. To evaluate your ideas. To present and debate a coherent and internally consistent line of thinking. Writing helps you to get your thoughts in order. No generative AI is going to do that for you.
If you are not able to discuss a topic in writing, you probably don’t have a good understanding of it. And you won’t be capable to articulate your thoughts in a talk or a debate. Writing is reasoning. It does not have to be long and elaborate. You can express a coherent and convincing idea in a few sentences.
So in a way writing is an exercise for your mind. Even the book report in school, the essay at university, or just the e-mail to a colleague. Using ChatGPT for this is convenient — but lazy and ultimately stupefying. Furthermore, ChatGPT changes the voice of a text. I don’t want that for my essays. So I don’t use it here.
I like walking. Walking in cities, walking in the park, long walks in the countryside, hiking in the wilderness. If I have to get somewhere quickly, I take the bicycle and / or a train — and on some occasions a car or a plane. But for me, walking is the most humane and the most natural mode of mobility.
Artists, designers, and cultural scientists seem to have a slight obsession with walking. The Amsterdam School for Cultural Analysis features a research group called ‘Walking as Research Practice’. (The group has published a lovely book that you are supposed to read while you are walking.) And the renown sociologist and design theorist Lucius Burckhardt created a Spaziergangswissenschaft — a science of strolling. There are differences between these two approaches to walking. But both emphasise the fact that moving through an environment on foot changes your perception of your surroundings. Burckhardt came from urban planning and was an outspoken critic of car-centred cities. For him, walking could have different purposes. It created new insights, impressions and experiences and as such he considered walking a cultural and aesthetic method.
For me, writing and walking derive from the same mindset. They are not about efficiency or speed — but rather about reflection and contemplation. They are both a way to observe, process and make sense of our surroundings. They are not about getting somewhere. Writing and walking have a value in itself.
Using ChatGTP is like using a car. Convenient — but detached, lazy, and wasteful. You consume a large amount of energy and emit lots of CO2. Sometimes it is the best way to get somewhere — but don’t take it lightly. According to recent studies, the AI sector squanders as much energy as a small industrialised country. So if you use ChatGPT it should better be worth it.
Transportation technology made walking more or less optional. Johann Sebastian Bach walked over 400 Kilometers from Arnstadt to Lübeck — just to listen to Dieterich Buxtehude play the organ at the Marienkirche. Back in 1705, this took many days. Today, you would just take the train and be there in about 5 hours. But even today, people still walk. Sometimes as an exercise, sometimes for pleasure, sometimes because it is simply quick and efficient.
It is possible that digital technologies like Generative AI will have a similar impact on writing. Tedious and unimportant writing (and probably reading) will be done by AI. But if for exploring topics, forming coherent arguments, exercising your mind, or just for fun — you will write yourself.
Just like walking, the act of writing creates new insights, impressions and experiences and is as such a cultural and aesthetic method. This statement is neither original nor controversial. But given the current pragmatic and technocratic modes of text production with ChatGPT, it is worthwhile to remember that writing is a deeply personal and cultural activity.
In the future, you probably don’t have to write or to walk. Walking is already a choice. Writing will become a choice. But both are deeply enriching pursuits.
One of the greatest walks I ever did was in Hornstrandir — the most north-western peninsula on Iceland. A few years ago, a close friend and I spend two weeks in Summer there. The sun never really went down — we had daylight 24 hours a day. It was one of the most enjoyable and relaxing walking experiences I ever had. Time became meaningless — two weeks was just one long day. We could sleep till noon and walk until midnight. There was always light and no pressure.
I am not quite sure whether I will ever have the same experience with writing — but I have not given up hope!
