/Tech6h ago

Interconnects editor Florian Brand argues fully automated AI content lacks value, making minimal manual editing the new differentiator

Story Overview

Florian Brand, research engineer at Prime Intellect and editor at Interconnects, frames fully automated AI content as inherently low-value because readers can generate equivalent output on their own, so the emerging edge comes from light human editing and curation instead.

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#1778

Original post

Florian Brand@xeophon#1778inTech

Still not using AI for @interconnectsai, which includes Artifacts 🫡 Also applies to all my blogs, talks etc.

Would be trivial to automate Artifacts (in fact, the discovery is fully automated), but I still filter and write down the stuff I think is relevant.

Guy@nosilverv

This got me curious: how common is this? So I opened Substack's 31 bestseller categories and ran the last unpaywalled post in each through Pangram. 7/31 flagged for AI, anywhere from 10 to 100%(!)

These accounts have between 56k to 1.2M subscribers.

1:54 AM · Jun 23, 2026 · 2.8K Views

Open Question

Why pure generation loses its edge

Brand notes that full automation remains technically feasible for newsletter work yet adds no reader differentiation, leaving even minimal manual rewriting as the practical distinguisher.

Developer Impact

Iterative structuring before personal rewrite

Developer xlr8harder outlines an early-stage dialogue with AI models to organize long-form ideas, followed by rewriting most of the output in an individual voice.

Sentiment

Positive users support the Interconnects AI author avoiding LLMs to preserve personal voice, while negative users dismiss AI-generated writing as worthless unreadable slop.

Pos

33.3%

Neg

66.7%

3 comments with sentiment.

Cluster Engagement

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Florian Brand@xeophon

My assumption is that everyone I talk to uses AI as much (or more) than I do, so they can also generate the same stuff.

When stuff is fully generated, why would I read it or listen? I can do it myself.

Even refining AI slop is putting you at the top 1% these days fwiw

Florian Brand@xeophon

Still not using AI for @interconnectsai, which includes Artifacts 🫡 Also applies to all my blogs, talks etc.

Would be trivial to automate Artifacts (in fact, the discovery is fully automated), but I still filter and write down the stuff I think is relevant.

6h727140

xlr8harder@xlr8harder

@xeophon When I'm writing long form, I like using AI as part of the writing process in a lot of back and forth to structure my thoughts, then I usually rewrite most of it.

Florian Brand@xeophon

My assumption is that everyone I talk to uses AI as much (or more) than I do, so they can also generate the same stuff.

When stuff is fully generated, why would I read it or listen? I can do it myself.

Even refining AI slop is putting you at the top 1% these days fwiw

5h12650

Florian Brand@xeophon

@xlr8harder thats how we've written the atom paper basically

helped tremendously for structuring but it was so much slop that we deleted almost all things

xlr8harder@xlr8harder

@xeophon When I'm writing long form, I like using AI as part of the writing process in a lot of back and forth to structure my thoughts, then I usually rewrite most of it.

5h7130

Max Spero@max_spero_

@xeophon @interconnectsai 🫡

1h343

Zach Mueller@TheZachMueller

As you know, only one thing I use AI for and it’s the background for the model card, but even then I sit there and refine it for awhile. But my personal blog (and real work blogs) will never have AI writing. (And the cards are meant as a quick reference, not a fantastic blog anyways)

5h372

vu@_vu

@xeophon @interconnectsai Your voice is all you have don’t let them take it

12m41