I Don't Care if a Robot Wrote It. If It's Good, It's Good. — Joan Westenberg

Oct 17, 2025
58 mins

Episode Description

In this episode we sit down with writer and strategist Joan Westenberg to talk about creativity and using AI without losing your humanity. We get into:


  • The essay that blew up: deleting her “second brain” and ditching productivity guilt
  • Human in the loop: why tools are neutral—and responsibility isn’t
  • Joan's AI rule: use it for the stuff you hate (titles, charts, video edits), never for the stuff you love (writing, music)
  • Editors vs. yes-bots: why Joan won’t trust AI for feedback
  • The real fear behind AI backlash: replacement after decades of creative devaluation
  • Choosing friction: manual workflows, single‑purpose tools, and keeping agency
  • Comms without spam: building relationships in a world drowning in AI-generated pitches


Whoa Vol. 2

This episode is part of a limited series of ten in-depth conversations put together by sublime.app with some of our favorite thinkers and creatives where we explore how artificial intelligence is changing and challenging creative work.

👉 Get your copy of the zine: https://sublime.app/whoa


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Disclaimer

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