DeepSummary
In this podcast episode, Steven Johnson discusses his work on integrating large language models (LLMs) with writing tools like NotebookLM. He shares how LLMs can amplify human creativity by assisting with research, summarization, and generating diverse perspectives on ideas. Johnson emphasizes the importance of clear prompts, curating source material, and maintaining a symbiotic relationship between human and AI intelligence.
Johnson reflects on his decades-long fascination with 'tools for thought' and how LLMs represent a significant milestone in augmenting human cognition. He describes techniques for capturing ideas frictionlessly, clustering related concepts, and allowing narratives to emerge organically from these fragments over time. The episode delves into Johnson's approaches to structuring long-form works like books, balancing chronology with thematic arcs, and crafting memorable sentences.
The conversation covers Johnson's experiences transitioning between different writing contexts, such as journalism, historical narratives, and collaborative multimedia projects. He shares insights into the editing process, maintaining novelty for the reader, and studying the stylistic techniques of other writers. Throughout, Johnson highlights the potential for LLMs to enhance this creative workflow by surfacing relevant connections and generating complementary perspectives.
Key Episodes Takeaways
- Leverage LLMs as collaborative 'tools for thought' to augment human creativity and insight generation.
- Maintain a frictionless system for capturing hunches and unconnected ideas that can organically coalesce into projects over time.
- Carefully curate source material to focus the LLM's knowledge while allowing it to surface novel connections.
- Embrace an iterative, non-linear process of structuring long-form narratives around thematic clusters rather than strict chronology.
- Study stylistic techniques of other writers while developing your own authorial voice through imitation and experimentation.
- Cultivate a sense of mystery and surprise to engage readers as a story unfolds.
- Recognize the value of collaborators in challenging structural assumptions and maintaining novelty during the editing process.
- Consider how different media and contexts may necessitate adjustments to storytelling techniques and narrative flow.
Top Episodes Quotes
- “The primary skill in getting a large language model to do something is command of clear, persuasive prose.“ by Steven Johnson
- “There is so much more to be said about this. This is so much bigger than I realized.“ by Steven Johnson
- “The surprise is just like, the reader being like, how is this all going to come together? How is this author going to get these twelve disparate people in the same room on some level or in the same plot?“ by Steven Johnson
- “I don't know whether it's just because I focused on that and that other part of my brain is atrophied or if I came into the world with less visual memories, probably some combination of that.“ by Steven Johnson
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Episode Information
How I Write
David Perell
2/7/24
Steven Johnson has studied LLM technology for over 35 years. His consensus? Large Language models and human creativity aren’t at odds. They’re at their best when they work in harmony.
Johnson has written thirteen books, many of which explore how tools and technologies expand what humans are capable of and transform societies. He created NotebookLM to help writers use AI to supplement their creative process — not to replace their thinking, but to amplify it.
In this episode, you’ll learn how to capture ideas without friction, how to seamlessly structure your work, how to leverage the element of surprise, and how to turn sheer information into unique insight — all while using AI, of course.
Ultimately, you’ll soak up Johnson’s 35 years of expertise and come away with actionable steps to make your writing process faster and your insights more surprising.
SPEAKER LINKS:
Website: https://stevenberlinjohnson.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/stevenbjohnson
Book: https://www.amazon.com/Steven-Johnson/e/B000APC0M6
WRITE OF PASSAGE:
Want to learn more about the next class Write of Passage?
Click here: https://take.writeofpassage.school/writing-sprints
PODCAST LINKS:
Website: https://writeofpassage.school/how-i-write/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DavidPerellChannel/videos
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-i-write/id1700171470
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2DjMSboniFAeGA8v9NpoPv
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