Which of the three did you actually use last time? Reply with one, two or three. No judgement, I want to know which one is the default.

Today's teaching session runs the same essay prompt through AI three ways, live on screen.

One. "Write me a 1,500 word essay on this prompt." Eleven seconds, and a window with a timestamp you cannot account for.

Two. "Make this better." It comes back tighter, smoother, and the one sentence that was genuinely yours is gone. It kept the shape of an argument and quietly removed the argument.

Three. "Do not write anything for me. Ask me the four questions a hostile reader would ask, then give me the strongest case against my claim."

I will answer my own question first so the thread opens with an example rather than a prompt. I used two for years, on emails and proposals, and I did not notice what it was costing me until I read an old paragraph and could not remember why I had framed it that way. That is the tell. If you cannot defend it in an office hour, you did not write it.

The free working session that goes with today's video is here, and it is the third move done by hand:
https://www.harvestkernel.com/the-blank-page-breaker/