There’s a lot of noise about artificial intelligence (AI) replacing writers and scholars. Among the careers often predicted to vanish, the historian is a notable example.
Many of these gloomy forecasts come from those with only the faintest understanding of what goes into making complex events of yesterday and today intelligible to others, whether in writing or speech.
Historians make exceptional strategists for organizations aiming to align purpose, people, and performance.
Here’s a closer look at how a single paragraph is put together.
To the uninitiated, these 100-200 words may appear quick and effortless. Easily replaced by a prompt to a generative AI tool. In reality, each paragraph emerges from a complex interplay of highly specialized tasks, personal experiences, and intuitive reasoning. Elements that are unmistakably human in both design and execution.
It includes the hunt for credible sources. Sometimes freely available on the internet or easily obtainable on Amazon; other times hidden away in a dusty basement masquerading as an archive halfway around the world.
When writing about the recent past, relying on official records is insufficient. It’s also necessary to consult the people who saw it happen – and those who made it happen.
When analyzing people and events in unfamiliar locations and cultural settings, firsthand immersion is paramount, provided safety can be assured.
Equipped with a cacophony of facts, observations, and data points, often numbering in the hundreds and thousands, the difficult work of analysis (dissecting and understanding) and synthesis (combining) continues.
By the end, an argument or underlying thematic thread emerges that, ideally, reinforces the thesis: the central claim of the larger work. This ability to discern patterns and connect ideas is why historians make exceptional strategists for organizations aiming to align purpose, people, and performance.
The hard-won argument must be accompanied by a careful balance of facts and rhetorical finesse to convince the reader of its message, authenticity, and educational value. Understanding who reads or listens is critical to striking the right balance. Failure to probe stakeholder and audience needs will produce words but inspire no action.
Even once the words have coalesced into a coherent paragraph, the work is far from finished. Proofreading, fact-checking, adding citations, and, crucially, crafting a smooth transition to the next paragraph still remain.
Whether the end product is a lecture, article, or book, this process is repeated many times over, sometimes for weeks, months, and even years. Research and writing is a work of art that takes time, devotion, and heaps of creative and intellectual energies.
Not everyone will think the effort is worth the result.
Why hire a string quartet when a Bose speaker and a Spotify playlist can deliver a similar listening experience cheaper and without the logistical hassle? Why prepare an elaborate family dinner with fresh ingredients from the farmer’s market when ordering a pizza through UberEats fills everyone up just the same? Or why learn a language when the latest generation of Apple AirPods can perform live translations anyway?
In these highly curated scenarios, the use of technology ultimately comes down to personal preference and, often, pragmatism, especially when time is in short supply.
AI might appear poised to master the art of crafting a single paragraph. Yet for connoisseurs, experts, and conscientious audiences, the journey of its creation defines its quality and corresponding value. A work that has been shaped by the trials and tribulations of a handcrafted process naturally commands greater attention and appreciation. If it didn’t, auction houses like Sotheby’s would surely cease to exist.
Even when human effort appears flawed or inefficient by a machine’s logic, it must retain a place in the age of AI, beginning with something as seemingly trivial, yet profoundly human, as writing.
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