June 13, 2026
Someone asked me recently how I go about putting these essays together. I thought it was worth sharing, because the process itself is part of the story.
It starts with a conversation — usually with Gemini. The reason I landed on Gemini first is simple: I use Google almost exclusively on my PC, so it felt natural. I’ll have a wide-ranging discussion about whatever topic is on my mind. I ask it to research, share its perspective, and often I’ll ask it to critically interview me about my own thinking on the topic. By the time we’re done, we may have generated a substantial amount of material.
When I feel like I’ve covered the ground I want to cover, I ask Gemini to step back and organize it — summarize it, give it structure and flow, and bring it back to me in a form I can work with. At that point the question becomes: is this one essay or a series? Most of mine turn into series, simply because the conversation goes deep enough that natural breaking points emerge. The Strait of Hormuz piece, for example, developed into three separate essays, each one raising the subject matter of the next.
Once I have a draft, I take it to ChatGPT and ask it to verify the facts. It’ll come back and flag what holds up, what’s outdated, what’s being overstated. We go back and forth until I’m as confident as I can be that what I’ve got is accurate.
Then the draft comes to Claude. I’ve established — and I use that word deliberately — a working relationship with Claude focused on voice. Claude takes the material and works to put it in my words, the way I actually talk and think. It does an exceptionally good job of that. Yes, an AI is involved in the writing, but everything in it originated with the questions I asked, the research I guided, the opinions I expressed, and the outlines I shaped. The content is mine; Claude helps me say it the way I would say it.
One final pass goes back to ChatGPT for a last round of fact-checking and cleanup, and then I have a finished piece.
One thing I’ve learned the hard way: don’t let it sit too long. AI moves fast. I experienced this firsthand while working on the AI in Healthcare series — by the time I was ready to publish, enough had changed that we went back and substantially revised the entire series.
I’ve now been working with these tools for nearly two years, and I want to be transparent about something: those who know me well know I could not produce work at this volume, with this level of research and consistency, on my own — especially withday to day distractions, and Patty’s birding and my photography remaining our first priority.
The Team, as I’ve come to think of them — Gemini, ChatGPT, and Claude — each plays a distinct role. I’ve gotten comfortable with their individual strengths and weaknesses, and I’ve developed a real working relationship with each one. The thinking, the opinions, the direction — that’s mine. The heavy lifting of research, organization, fact-checking, and finding my voice on the page — that’s a collaboration.
I wouldn’t have it any other way, and I didn’t want anyone to wonder
“All the tools… are nothing without the head, heart and hands to use them…”
Rasheed Ogunlaru
“If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.”
Proverb