I've been thinking a lot about AI lately. Not in the way everyone else is—panicking about job displacement or marveling at the latest language model. I'm thinking about what it means for your voice.
When I built Jottings, I made a conscious decision: this platform exists to help you share what's on your mind. Not to polish it into perfection. Not to make it sound like everyone else. Just you—raw, real, conversational.
The thing about AI is, everyone thinks it works one of two ways. Either it completely replaces human effort (doom and gloom), or it's a magical tool that makes everything effortless (hype). The truth? Neither.
The Real Problem We're Solving
A few years ago, I was frustrated. I had thoughts worth sharing, but the friction was too high. Writing a full blog post felt like committing to something permanent. Editing for perfection ate up the joy of expression. Social media demanded constant performance and algorithmic compliance.
So I kept my thoughts in a personal journal. Private. Safe. But increasingly lonely.
This is the gap Jottings tries to fill—not with AI, but with simplicity. A place to think out loud without the performance.
Now, some people ask: "Why not just use an AI to write these for you?" And I get it. An AI could generate 500 polished words on any topic in seconds. But here's what would be lost: your perspective. The specific way you phrase things. Your hesitations and questions. The genuine uncertainty that makes a thought feel alive.
Your voice is what makes your ideas yours.
Where AI Actually Helps
Let me be clear: I'm not anti-AI. I use it constantly. But I use it in very specific ways.
When I'm writing, sometimes I get stuck. I know what I'm trying to say, but the words aren't flowing. An AI can help unstick me—suggesting a different structure, offering a metaphor, rephrasing a complicated idea more clearly.
When I'm editing, AI can catch inconsistencies, suggest tighter sentences, point out places where I've been unclear. But I still make the final call. I still own what I'm saying.
This is the key insight: AI as co-pilot, not replacement.
The danger comes when we use AI as a shortcut to avoiding the hard work of thinking. When we ask it to generate our perspective instead of doing the work to develop one. That's not efficiency—that's outsourcing your voice.
Why It Matters Now
We're in an interesting moment. AI tools are getting incredibly good at mimicking authentic voice. You can barely tell if something was written by a human or a machine. This is actually worse for human connection, not better.
If I'm reading your thoughts, I want to read your thoughts. Not something that sounds vaguely like thoughts, generated from statistical patterns. I want to encounter your specific way of seeing the world.
Think about the people whose writing you actually care about. You don't follow them because they're polished or perfectly SEO-optimized. You follow them because something in their voice resonates with you. Because you trust that what you're reading is genuinely them.
AI can't create that trust. Only you can.
The Jottings Approach
This is why Jottings stays intentionally simple. No AI-powered "smart writing assist" that suggests how to make your post more engaging. No auto-generated descriptions. No algorithmic amplification based on engagement metrics.
Instead: tools that reduce friction, not thought.
A simple editor. The ability to share across multiple sites. Basic media support. That's it. The hard part—deciding what to say and saying it in your own way—that's all you.
We've added support for custom domains, RSS feeds, and site customization because these things serve your voice. They help you own your platform, not hand control to an algorithm.
Could we add AI? Sure. Build a "smart title generator" or "AI writing coach"? Technically possible. But it would be fighting against the core idea: that your voice matters.
The Invitation
Here's what I've learned: people don't want easier. They want clearer. They don't want automated. They want intentional.
The real opportunity isn't in replacing human voices with better copies of human voices. It's in clearing away the noise so authentic voices can actually be heard.
That's what I'm building for. Not a platform powered by AI, but a platform that gets out of the way and lets you be you.
If you have thoughts worth sharing—the messy, incomplete, uncertain kind that feel too casual for traditional publishing but too important for Twitter—Jottings is here for that.
Start simple. Share openly. Keep your voice yours.
Ready to build your corner of the internet? Create your Jottings site today—no AI, just you.