DistantNews
Support us
The Death of Writing
🇨🇭 Switzerland /Culture & Society

The Death of Writing

From Le Temps · () French

Translated from French, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

Opinion Sources not specified Context piece
  • The article questions the nature of writing in the age of artificial intelligence, pondering whether a machine or a human authored the text.
  • The author admits to considering using AI for assistance with writing, such as generating pleasant openings or more sophisticated phrasing.
  • The publication clarifies that its opinion pieces reflect the authors' views, not the newspaper's official stance.

The article opens with a provocative question about authorship: "Who is writing? The one who signs this text, or is it a machine? Or is it a mix of the two, the former, failing, having needed support?"

Who is writing? The one who signs this text, or is it a machine? Or is it a mix of the two, the former, failing, having needed support?

— AuthorPosing a question about the nature of authorship in the digital age.

The author candidly admits to having contemplated seeking help from AI, describing it as "promising agents." The consideration involves asking for "a pleasant opening, a development that struggles to emerge, more learned or clearer phrasing, or why not a small or large piece of text pumped from the machine's 'brain.'"

it has happened to me not to consider, but to say that it would be possible, in a moment of weakness, to politely ask one of the promising artificial intelligence agents for a little help, a pleasant start, a development that struggles to emerge, more learned or clearer phrasing, or why not a small or large piece of text pumped from the machine's 'brain.'

— AuthorAdmitting to considering the use of AI in writing.

Published on August 17, 2026, the piece is presented as a chronicle, a format the newspaper Le Temps uses for pieces written by its staff or external contributors. The publication emphasizes transparency, stating that these texts "reflect the point of view of their authors and authors. They in no way represent the position of the media."

These texts reflect the point of view of their authors and authors. They in no way represent the position of the media.

— Le TempsClarifying the nature of opinion pieces published by the newspaper.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Le Temps in French. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

More Stories

From Our Blog