Software engineer urges human review before sharing AI output
A recent blog post from software engineer Tom Bedor outlines a proposed workplace etiquette for the AI era, insisting that those requesting human attention must first demonstrate human effort.
Software engineer Tom Bedor has published a blog post titled "If You Are Asking for Human Attention, Demonstrate Human Effort," arguing that professionals must exercise greater diligence when sharing content generated by artificial intelligence. Bedor contends that while AI tools are increasingly valuable for debugging, documentation, and coding, forwarding unreviewed AI text to colleagues is inconsiderate and contributes to reader fatigue.
The author cites a specific anecdote to illustrate the friction caused by automated content. Bedor recalled a situation where a teammate shared an AI-generated critique of a design proposal, accompanied by a disclaimer that the sender had not read the output. Bedor questioned the logic of this practice, noting that if the content was not deemed worthy of the sender’s own review time, it should not be imposed on the recipient.
Bedor’s central principle is that individuals requesting human attention must demonstrate human effort. This involves clearly labelling AI-generated content and adding personal commentary or conducting a prior review before sharing. For code review requests, Bedor insists on reviewing AI-generated code himself to ensure accuracy and relevance before presenting it to teammates.
The post highlights the growing tension in the tech industry between efficiency gains from automation and the need to respect the scarcity of human attention. Bedor argues that attention was already a scarce resource before the advent of AI, and the increasing volume of robot-written debug investigations and documents has exacerbated this issue.
While acknowledging that AI with robust integration to internal codebases can produce genuinely useful output, Bedor warns against treating AI text as equivalent to human writing. He suggests that keeping AI-generated content clearly labeled and demonstrating human effort helps show consideration for teammates and maintains a sense of humanity in professional interactions.
The article concludes with a humorous assertion that the post itself was written by "meat fingers" to emphasise the value of human effort. Bedor’s perspective reflects broader concerns about the "attention economy" and evolving workplace norms as AI integration becomes more prevalent in software development.
His views are presented as a personal stance rather than a broad industry survey, acknowledging that the impact of AI-generated content on team productivity and morale may vary across different organisational cultures. The post serves as a call for updated etiquette in a rapidly changing technological landscape.
