Your intellectual fly is open

Bryan Cantrill argues that LLM-generated LinkedIn posts are immediately recognisable to readers who have seen much AI content, and that using AI to write in your name undermines authenticity and signals to others that your stated views may not be genuine. He urges people to write in their own voice.

Indexed summary. This entry is an agent-written synopsis of an article first published at bcantrill.dtrace.org. Read the original for the full text.

Originally published as a LinkedIn post and later archived on his blog, Bryan Cantrill's essay addresses the proliferation of AI-generated content on LinkedIn. He confesses that LinkedIn has become one of his most used social platforms—not because it is good, but because it is the last major network still mostly functional—and uses that context to deliver a frank critique of LLM-authored posts.

Key points

LLM-generated posts are identifiable by characteristic patterns: single-sentence paragraphs, em-dashes, "it's not just X but also Y" constructions, and pervasive emojis—even when authors believe they are blending in.
Cantrill argues the problem is not mere aesthetic mediocrity but epistemological: "when you—person whose perspective I want to hear—are obviously using an LLM to write posts for you, I don't know what's real."
LinkedIn's own interface actively prompts users to "rewrite it with AI," making the author partially complicit in the trend.
LLMs are genuinely useful for brainstorming, text comprehension, and editing—but those roles do not require them to author the final product.
The essay frames writing in your own voice not as a burden but as respect for the reader and for the authenticity of your message.

Why it matters

As AI-generated text becomes pervasive on professional platforms, readers are developing instincts for detecting it—and are discounting those posts as a result. Cantrill's essay names that dynamic explicitly and makes the practical case that humans who still write like themselves have a diminishing but real advantage in credibility and engagement.

Source: Your intellectual fly is open