Post by @MaddieM4@raphus.social

2026-11-11 10:24 UTC

A running theme of the AI stuff is its *managerializing influence.* Which, in hindsight, was unavoidable. It's not just here to be obsequious, it's here to be obedient and subservient. What role does that put you in? But specifically: you've probably had a boss with some really underbaked ideas. It is easy to roll your eyes at your boss for their handwavey, half-considered model of reality, but this isn't a moral failure of your boss (er.. well. I can't say, I don't know your boss). What's going on is that engagement with the process is really good, and your boss is detached from it, and this is how that detachment manifests. You, on the other hand, are there on the ground, spending time, observing things, considering possibilities, noticing opportunities. There really isn't a substitute for the time and place of it - either you have presence or you don't. LLMs managerialize. They separate you from the action, from that perspective, from the benefits of presence.

Replies (1)

@MaddieM4@raphus.social 2026-11-11 10:31

I think a big part of this is that first drafts/concepts are always a bit crap, but they're allowed to be. It's the first slightly-naive question on a journey. It's easy to forget sometimes, holding a finished product, just how hazy the concept was before you began to flesh it out. The Princess Bride is a classic story, and it started out by William Goldman asking his two kids what his next story should be about. One said "it should be about a princess!" and the other said "it should be about a bride!" And so, he combined the two ideas into a title... and then had to figure out how to flesh that concept out in all the ways we appreciate today, which is why the story is rich with creative decisions and thought processes. So managerialization is a *process truncator.* You still do the first part (unless you're truly cooked and ask the bot for ideas). But you end up only really participating in the part at the beginning that's hazy and a bit crap.

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