I’m sure my grad students get tired of me advising them to “kill their darlings”1 as they work on their papers and dissertations. But it’s mantra that’s stood me in good stead through my writing career, including in the just-published book AI and the Art of Being Human written with Jeff Abbott.
Up until a few days before we finalized the manuscript, AI and the Art of Being Human included a foreword written by Jeff and myself—more of an author’s note really—that provided insights into why (and how) we wrote the book, and why we felt it was both timely and necessary.
At the last minute though—and after some sound professional advice—we realized that, much as we loved it, the foreword made it harder for readers to engage with the book and get into its flow.
And so we ditched it.
The result is a much tighter and cleaner start to the book—killing our darling was hard, but it made sense from the perspective or readers. (We also moved some of the material to the Preface to provide context that would otherwise have been lost).
And yet, the excised text did provide context and insights that I still think are important.
And so, here is the recently deceased—and now resurrected—foreword to AI and the Art of Being Human …
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