Dumb tools shouldn't become smart.

· Bits and Bobs 3/2/26
  • Dumb tools shouldn't become smart.
    • When you use a dumb tool you expect it not to spy on you.
      • It can't!
    • When you use a smart tool, you expect it might develop a model of you.
    • When it switches from dumb to smart, it becomes a violation of your expectation, a betrayal.
      • "I thought you didn't even have a brain, so you couldn't spy on me.
      • Now I see that you were spying on me the entire time!"
      • Things that you did in the system because it was dumb now feel retroactively dangerous in a moment.
    • It's the uncanny moment when you realize the walls literally have ears.
    • This is one reason you won't be able to retrofit agentic workflow onto previously dumb tools like Google Docs, Notion, and Airtable.

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