Prompting Curiosity
Prompting Curiosity
Ep. 68: Heftnosis: Recognizing When AI Gives You More Than You Need
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Ever been mesmerized by a 100-page AI report you didn’t actually need? That’s heftnosis, a word I made up (and am very proud of) that describes the AI attraction and excitement that comes from equating output volume with value. In this episode I explain why I don’t label this verbosity-bias as slop, why so many new AI rollouts (Claude Duet included) feel more desperate than helpful, and why responsible AI use starts with asking yourself “Do I actually need all of this? Is it actually helpful?” I’m still very pro AI and I still want you to be ambitious with it, but more is not better. Better is better.

Main Topics Covered

  • An introduction to Heftnosis
  • Why I hate the term “slop”
  • Verbosity bias and ChatGPT being “too chatty”
  • The Claude Duet limited rollout
  • “Do I actually need all of this? Is it actually helpful?”
  • The marketing for AI is backwards: here’s a solution, go find a problem
  • A friend’s questions and how answers differ with vs. without heftnosis
  • AI hacks, breaches, and the bike lock approach
  • How I used AI this week: Patching a WordPress security vulnerability

Links & Resources for This Episode