Being interviewed by a bot is brutal but should you write about it? The words don’t come easy.
'Search for the reason that bids you to write?’
The words of Austrian poet Rainer Maria Rilke landed at the top of my LinkedIn feed on Saturday morning. LinkedIn? Weekend? Why, you might ask. Truth be told, I was doomscrolling during a break from writing about the experience of being interviewed by a bot. Seeking solidarity, so to speak.
That post, I am pleased to report––I may not delete LinkedIn just yet––delivered a much needed breath of serendipity. I know why I needed to write about this. When feeling down, or when things are dire, as they are for many professional writers at the moment, it is my way of processing things.
The interview was for a writing role focused on financing African business, and the job description seemed to have been written for me. I had the experience, the knowledge and the contacts. Most importantly, I had the passion. The subject matters to me.
But summarising 20-plus years experience in eleven questions and against a ticking clock is for the birds. I panicked and I bodged it. It was hideous but with the benefit of hindsight also very funny. A tragic comedy, if you will.
I needed to process it. I needed to write about it. The question it raised, however, was this: should I post it on a professional platform like LinkedIn?
As I fired off drafts to friends and family for approval, and the realisation dawned that you will never please all the readers all the time, I became increasingly uncertain.
Not very relaxing
Just relax and be yourself, said the email. This will only take a few minutes.
Relax? Really? Clearly, you don’t know me.
Prepare. I did. Smile. I tried. Breathe. Are you having a laugh? I’m can only see myself. And when I talk to myself, I’m truly one of the mean girls. Oh, God, the timer is ticking. My mind’s gone blank. I’m bumbling.
Have a glass of water ready. I did. Except then, to my horror, the cat snuck in and was drinking from it.
Have a glass of water ready. I did. Except then, to my horror, the cat snuck in and was drinking from it
And so it went on. And it got worse.
Sent first draft to best mate. ‘Pithy,’ was her verdict. Should I post? ‘It’s pretty harmless, is there any reason not to?’ Doubt niggled.
Better send it to son. He got a mention about how brilliantly he’d done jumping through AI hoops of fire for internships last year. I knew that process was difficult. I probably told him to relax and be himself. I had no idea.
‘Don’t like it. Lazy writing. Too much, I, I, I,’ he said. Brutal. Bollocks.
I didn’t post it.
Two days later, another draft. Much funnier (I thought). Much longer.
Sent it to husband: 'Very good.' High praise indeed.
Sent it to above friend. ‘Good, well-written. Much too self-critical. Not funny. Don’t post it.’
Sent it to a painter friend. ‘Love it. Hilarious. I feel so much better about myself now.’
Shoot me now! ChatGPT, my frenemy, what do you think? ‘Too long. Too self-critical. Potentially insulting. Risky. Cut these 400 words.’
I hate you. Why do you sanitise everything you stupid idiot bot?
‘I’m sorry, I was wrong, I should have kept your irreverent voice.’ I love you. Me and da self-deterministic bot. We’re so alike, we change our mind.
What would your colleagues say about you?
Fabian Ribezzo from Azabache Films, who I worked together closely with on the communications and visibility for the AU-EU Business Forum in Angola in late 2025, agrees that I change mind 'a lot'.
Explain that to a bot when the clock is ticking.
Luckily I have not had to explain it to Fabian who I continue to collaborate with. ‘I love working with you Pamela. You’re so creative. It’s like working with someone on the New Yorker.’
Valued praise from a most valued colleague who understands that the creative process is iterative, and meaningful work takes time and care. The job isn't done till it's done.
If it were a painting
Met my painter friend on Friday afternoon for tea.
'If it were a painting, I'd give it [draft of post] a bit of space or time out and then come back to both versions another day to make decisions,' she said.
Having commissioned her to do a family portrait, an experience I wrote about, I know she knows about the iterative process. We iterated endlessly over that painting. At first she was encouraging me to stick with the original draft, where this post began.
As we talked through whether to post or not to post, I sensed she was starting to think that maybe I should think twice about baring all, being too honest. Keep that, she seemed to be saying, for your creative writing.
She also changes her mind. What about what she'd said earlier: 'Surely writing shouldn't be all put up and shut up. It's also about sharing difficult experiences. And many people are right now.'
I guess that brings me back to Rilke in his letters to a Young Poet. ‘Acknowledge to yourself whether you would have to die if it were denied you to write.’
If I never had to think, read, speak or write about the impact of AI ever again, I would not die. If I was denied the right to write at all, die I might. Perhaps a tad dramatic but one thing is certain: life would be a whole lot harder to process. It is not easy to write, paint, create, and especially not now. But if we keep honing our craft, we can stay present and more alive than those who don't. So we better choose how we use AI wisely.
As I finished writing this morning I was, however, still grappling with the question: should I post it?
In the end, I decided to take the advice of my son when I sent him Draft 2.
‘You’re your own person. Post what you want to post, that’s a point of a blog! Someone, even if it’s just one person, will relate to it and then you’ll have an audience.’
I don’t think he read it. Maybe nobody else will. Should I worry? I'm hearing the words Rilke gave to that young poet. 'I beg you to give all that up'.
Full disclaimer: AI and I have a love-hate relationship. These words are 100% mine. At the time of posting, it had not been seen by another human, and definitely not by a bot.
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