I got caught red-handed! And I’m writing this post to say mea culpa.

Julien, a good friend, noticed something while reading my last blog post on WPM. The text was written with the help of artificial intelligence. Apparently, there were a lot of “giveaways.” Not only in the form, but also in the fact that my style disappears starting from the section “The problem with traditional typing tests.” Among other things, he said something to me that didn’t leave me indifferent:

I understand using AI for an AI project, but otherwise I find it unforgivable on a personal blog…

What he didn’t realize yet is that he had only just put his hand on the tip of the iceberg. Yes, I immediately admitted that I had used (if not abused) AI on my blog over the last few years to polish the texts I write. (Could you spot since when?) I was too afraid of writing a text with mistakes, redundant sentences, syntax errors, and so on.

Julien generously shared with me a video that explains the typical traits of a text written with the help of AI (in 2025). Once I took in the facts, I had to face the evidence. My friend was right, and he had just given me a reality check of great value.

I imagine you’re starting to suspect it, but writing is something absolutely sacred to me. I wouldn’t have dreamed of writing a book since high school if it weren’t! Yet, over time, my reliance on AI to write texts has probably gone too far.

I’m not writing this text to justify myself to you, dear readers, nor to ask for your forgiveness. No. And I don’t intend to rewrite all my old texts either. I plan to leave my mistakes in plain sight as a reminder of the day I learned this precious lesson in humility. The truth is, I’m writing this blog post to hold myself accountable. Considering the value writing has in my eyes, and knowing how much I want to find my own voice and explore my style, the way I was using AI was absolutely counterproductive. I went further than asking it to fix my mistakes. I asked it to simplify my reasoning out of pure laziness. Sometimes I’d give it my ideas in a jumble and ask it to make sense of them, with no respect for my own intellectual process. Sometimes I’d submit my texts without rereading them, can you imagine!

I’m happy to announce that those days are over. I’m going old school. I write without a safety net, with only a spell checker, a dictionary and a Bescherelle (virtual ones, still) to come to my rescue. I hope you’ll trust that from now on, the words you read will truly be mine, and that every merit, as well as every flaw, will be mine to own, and I hope you’ll help me identify them!

No more em dashes (—). No more parallel sentences. No more passing for someone better than myself. I intend to fully accept myself, and to enjoy continuing to watch my style evolve over the years, as it already has since 2003!

Writing is something so personal. When you let someone else read your text, there’s something so vulnerable in it. I intend to write well, and to be able to produce a lot of quality. But that will probably require writing a lot of bad texts, rereading myself a dozen times, correcting myself, and refining my ideas over time.

I accept this challenge.

An image comes to mind. While an idea could be likened to a melody, the words we use to communicate it would be like the instrumentation that makes that melody audible. And a beautiful melody is a beautiful melody is a beautiful melody. Whether it’s whistled or played by an orchestra, a good idea remains a good idea. All the better if it’s expressed clearly and with style, but my priority as a writer and thinker is first to put my ideas in order. And so, that starts now, by ending the hold AI has had on my writing.

I’m counting on you to send me feedback that will let me keep learning to communicate better. Thanks in advance for your engagement, your frankness, and your loyalty.

Happy Halloween! 🎃