My Secret for Cutting Through the AI Noise

Two women, brilliant writers, past 50, make the most sense

For the past 3,000 years writers have not used AI to get their thoughts and stories in a final form worth putting into the world. I’m one of those writers.

I’ve been turning observations and strategies into stories for 50 years, and it’s still a struggle to get all the necessary words lined up correctly in sentences. Why are there more words that get changed, deleted, and sent to the shredder than words that survive?

Recently and suddenly (after the COVID-19 pandemic) OpenAI released ChatGPT into the internet world that writers have been blogging on for 20 years. Professional writers found ourselves over our skis. Waving our arms to remain upright. Wondering if we’ll land safely or end up a pile of broken bones.

Writers I like the best are voracious readers. The trick is to write more than you consume, plus carve out some time for sleeping, nutrition, exercise, relationships, and paying the bills. The daily deluge of reading and exponential increase of articles delivered by device 24/7 seems to obsess on two areas: Politics and AI.

The truth is AI coverage is growing significantly in professional and business media while political coverage is losing audience share, so let’s talk about something we can actually affect.

Small Doses Might Help. Large Doses will kill you.

AI  information is like the drug Warfarin. Tiny doses do some good by preventing blood clots and strokes, while larger doses can bring on internal bleeding, hemorrhage, and death.

My recommendation for a tiny dose of AI information during the week is to heed the words from two women, professional writers in their 50’s, who were both pioneers among the first building websites in the 1990’s. Meet Linda Caroll and Kate Van Name. They don’t know each other, but I’ve enjoyed working with both of them, and I trust them when it comes to keeping my head on straight about AI issues and human behaviors.

Linda Caroll been writing about AI since it came out

That means you can find Linda in the digital world and in publications that used to come by mail. Hard copy mailbox publications. Everything she writes is a good example of how to do it best. Start with the ABOUT page on her Hello Writer Substack. The page does not say ABOUT, because it’s not about her as much as it’s a story that relates to writers and readers.

“I’ve been writing about AI since it came out. While people say it’s slop, it’s soulless, and if that’s true, why did AI win a writing competition? And the answer to that is because people write slop, too. And sometimes, the AI reads a little easier.”

Just in the months of 2026, here’s my pick of the top 10 stories by Linda Caroll that helped me the most. It’s saved me hundreds of hours not worrying about reading other stuff.

The only thing human writers can do that AI can never learn from us But you may need to relearn what you unlearned

AI crossed a line and it’s nothing like book burning, it’s worse People who use AI say it’s the future. Here’s why they’re wrong

What no one really wants to say about AI And what human writers need to do better

In 5 years, will you still care what’s AI? I will. Here’s why

If AI is slop, please explain why an AI writer won a storytelling contestResearchers just found a new way to identify AI

If AI stands for artificial intelligence, can we talk about what actual intelligence is? What Steve Wozniak (co-founder of Apple) told kids intelligence is

Why are smart people so dumb about AI? Are the “professionals” even asking the right questions?

Are AI “witch hunts” even real? What people aren’t saying when they scream witch hunt

AI went rogue and they want Trump to help? Y’all finally got around to talking about the barn door and the damn horses are so far gone it’s not funny

Good writing, AI slop, and the dragon The art of writing in a world of AI I have a crazy idea and I’d love to know what you think

Kate Van Name writes books, plus a Substack and music

Do you think the ABOUT page is about you? It’s the first page people go to on your site, which makes it your best opportunity to tell the story of what someone feels like or experiences because of you.

Kate’s ABOUT page starts with a promise and delivers a story. What We Do Together, You’ll Use Forever

I didn’t set out to build a consulting firm, or to write books, or to make songs. I set out to be useful in the rooms where a wrong decision would cost someone more than they knew to worry about.

For more than thirty-five years, that work has taken me into boardrooms and family businesses, into community rooms and long car rides home after a hard meeting, into every kind of moment where the next decision carried real weight. Sometimes the room held forty people. Sometimes it held two. Every engagement looked different, and every leader I met was sure her situation was one of a kind.

Just in the months of 2026, here’s my pick of the top two stories by Kate Van Name that helped me the most.

The disruption is not AI. It is how we respond to it. A reflection on how we meet change, and why the difference has never been the tool.

The AI Gold Rush It’s curious how slowly we build and how quickly the future changes, and how they still manage to meet—just not always in the way we planned.

Here’s my Rx for curing your AI angst and giving you back the gift of time: Take two writers, Linda and Kate, and call me in the morning.

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We’re on a mission to feature stories about professionals who are initiating meaningful conversations with other gifted minds and storytellers—and who they serve.

My clients are experts who don’t need more information. They need decisions and a system that matches their brain to turn ideas into stories and stories into NOW results. Not “someday” and not “after I feel ready.”