Paul Ford
Writer and co-founder of Aboard, who has published essays and stories on Ftrain.com since 1997 and writes about software, AI and vibe coding.
“I like the utility of it as a programmer. If it would just produce Axios-style bullet lists. Just sort of like, here are the three things I did. Here are the three things I'm thinking of doing. But it's got to tell you a little story because they all went to gifted program and they all got to show you, oh boy, look how smart and funny I am.”
The Aboard Podcast · AI Builders · October 2026
Ford and his guest were talking about what AI-generated writing feels like, which he compared to unappetising pictures of food. Here he separates the usefulness of AI coding tools from the chatty way they report on their own work. His guest agreed and said she is constantly telling them to be shorter.
Transcript
no, it's all Uncanny Valley. It's just like it's soulless. You know, you know, the food pictures where it just looks like rotten side?
Yeah.
The slop. Yeah. That's how it feels. I like the utility of it as a programmer. If it would just produce Axio-style bullet lists. Just sort of like, here are the three things I did. Here are the three things I'm thinking of doing. But it's got to tell you a little story because they all went to gifted program and they all got to show you. That, oh boy, look how smart and funny I am.
That is kind of my biggest pet peeve. I feel like I'm constantly telling them, like, shorter, shorter. Just give me a short time. You are a
computer.
Yeah.
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