Host: Jaime Buckley 💎
Guest: RJ Redden
Topic: How to decide your own relationship with AI before someone decides it for you
Music: “Feel Good” by raspberrymusic
Everybody wants you to pick a side.
AI is the villain, or AI is the savior, and if you stand anywhere in the middle, both camps shout at you. I started this podcast because I couldn’t find anyone willing to just talk about it.
So RJ and I did the one thing the internet won’t.
We talked.
Episode Overview
The first five minutes are warmup, and yes, I rant about Descript.
I left it all in.
Nothing about this is safe, and a writer’s real day includes software that fights back.
Then RJ and I get into it.
RJ teaches the No BS AI class, and I’ve been a student there since early on. We talk about data centers, the tool-or-weapon question, why every problem with AI is really a human problem, and why RJ thinks the people who are afraid of it deserve love and not lectures.
I tell the story of why I started using AI at all: my hands are failing, drawing is breathing for me, and I needed a way to keep making what only I can make.
We also get into Pangram and the AI-detection wars on Substack. We also touch on what it cost me to learn how to line edit with AI without losing my story, and the Borg.
…because of course the Borg came up.
RJ closes with the argument that AI is the first tool that conforms to you instead of the other way around.
I close with a toaster, a grocery store, and why the human part is getting more valuable, not less.
This Episode Answers
Is AI a tool or a threat for fiction writers?
How do I use AI without letting it write my story for me?
Why does every AI conversation turn into an argument, and how do I stay out of the fight?
Can AI help a writer or artist whose body is slowing down?
What do I do if I don’t want to use AI at all?
Highlights
“Is a knife a tool or a weapon?” Jaime’s 11-year-old paused, then said, “Yes?” That’s the answer.
RJ: every problem with AI is a human problem with a black box in between.
Jaime’s Clockwork City, home to 1.5 billion gnomes, checked by AI in about fifteen minutes. It could work.
The line-edit test: 1,600 words in, about 800 back the first time. With clear instructions, 2,000 in and 2,004 out, with every change listed.
Crap in, crap out. Gold in, magic out. Jaime’s son gave him the reason to start.
The hard question: if you don’t choose how you relate to AI, the choice gets made for you.
Key Quote
“If you don’t choose, the choice will be made for you. You either act or you will be acted upon.”
Jaime Buckley
Episode Goal
A writer should finish this episode able to say what they mean by “AI” in one specific sentence, and to make a deliberate choice about it, whether that choice is yes, no, or only here and nowhere else.
From Jaime
If you came for a side to join, you won’t find one here.
I agree with both camps, because two things can be true at the same time.
What I want for you is calm, and a choice you made on purpose.
Read the free article for the short version, and the deep dive for the method I’ve been using to stay the lead partner in my own work.
About the Guest and the Class
RJ runs No BS AI, a 12-week cohort for entrepreneurs and creatives who want practical tools without the gloom or the hype. It alternates a teaching week with a lab week, ends December 15, and RJ admits late students case by case. RJ also hosts a free session called Dip a Toe in AI Without Losing Your Mind.
Join Us
- Free Article: Why Does Every Conversation About Writers and AI Turn Into a Fight?
- Paid Deep Dive: How Does a Writer Choose Their Own Relationship With AI?
- The Round Table Discussion (free guide + live GoBrunch) 👉🏼 Why Do Writers Need a Room to Talk Honestly About AI?
…and visit my dear friend RJ Redden. You won't regret it, I promise.
About This Podcast
Nothing About This Is Safe is the monthly writing-truth podcast hosted by Jaime Buckley, featuring candid conversations with working authors. We go after the real questions fiction writers actually search for ... craft, identity, mindset, publishing reality, money, and creative survival ... without sugarcoating and without performance. If a writer is looking for an honest answer, this is the conversation they were looking for.
Nothing about this is safe, but it’s worth it.
Jaime Buckley
