Welcome to episode 121 of the Technical Writing Success podcast from the Curt Robbins & Associates Technical Writing Agency.

This podcast is targeted at IT professionals, technical writers, and documentation specialists. Subscribe today to never miss a single daily episode!

Today’s episode reviews an article from The Old Tech Writer (Steve Arrants) that is entitled "When the Docs Are an Afterthought" and was published on Medium on August 22, 2024.

Hosts Daphne and Fred share their spirited unpacking of this educational article from Arrants and his seven signs that you're working in an environment where documentation is an afterthought. These signs include a lack of standards, no collaboration, and no planning or project management.

Writes Arrants: " Documentation has changed since I started in the 1980s. From print to online to interactive aids, the delivery has changed, but the need hasn't. Good documentation is critical to make your product successful, no matter how intuitive and friendly the software, hardware, or service is.

"Working for a company that treats documentation as an integral, crucial part of the product is great. But I’ve also worked at big and small companies that treated documentation as an afterthought. How do you tell you're in that environment? Here are some signs."

The Curt Robbins & Associates Technical Writing Agency is currently taking on new clients. We enjoy helping companies with their documentation and communications strategy and implementation. Contact us to learn about our reasonable rates and fast turnaround.

>> Read the original Arrants article: https://tinyurl.com/5n6ke5d6

>> Read the Curt Robbins article "Helping Junior Technical Writers": https://tinyurl.com/yc82h4j7

>> Read the Robbins article "10 Famous Technical Writers": https://tinyurl.com/5ejznknw

>> Read the Robbins article "Tech Writers: Embrace Structured Content": https://tinyurl.com/32ysxm3v

>> Read the Robbins article "Role of User Experience in Tech Writing": https://tinyurl.com/mrdtenbb

>> Join the Technical Writing Success group on LinkedIn: https://tinyurl.com/mr28u7td

>> Subscribe to the weekly Tech Writing Success newsletter: https://tinyurl.com/yc7dbfy3

>> Subscribe to the AI for Technical Writers podcast: https://tinyurl.com/mppehxtn

Welcome to episode 120 of the Technical Writing Success podcast from the Curt Robbins & Associates Technical Writing Agency.

This podcast is targeted at IT professionals, technical writers, and documentation specialists. Subscribe today to never miss a single daily episode!

Today’s episode explores an article from professor Ethan Mollick at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania entitled "15 Times to Use AI, and 5 Not To" that was published on December 9, 2024.

Hosts Daphne and Fred share their spirited unpacking of this educational article from AI expert Mollick and what it teaches technical writers and documentation specialists about the pros and cons of using AI in their work.

Writes Mollick: "Knowing when to use AI turns out to be a form of wisdom, not just technical knowledge. Like most wisdom, it's somewhat paradoxical: AI is often most useful where we're already expert enough to spot its mistakes, yet least helpful in the deep work that made us experts in the first place. It works best for tasks we could do ourselves but shouldn't waste time on, yet can actively harm our learning when we use it to skip necessary struggles. And perhaps most importantly, wisdom means knowing that these patterns will keep shifting as AI capabilities evolve, and as more research comes in, requiring us to keep questioning our assumptions about where it helps and where it hinders."

The Curt Robbins & Associates Technical Writing Agency is currently taking on new clients. We enjoy helping companies with their documentation and communications strategy and implementation. Contact us to learn about our reasonable rates and fast turnaround.

>> Read the original Mollick article: https://tinyurl.com/mvwrj6w8

>> Read the Curt Robbins article "Helping Junior Technical Writers": https://tinyurl.com/yc82h4j7

>> Read the Robbins article "10 Famous Technical Writers": https://tinyurl.com/5ejznknw

>> Read the Robbins article "Tech Writers: Embrace Structured Content": https://tinyurl.com/32ysxm3v

>> Read the Robbins article "Role of User Experience in Tech Writing": https://tinyurl.com/mrdtenbb

>> Subscribe to the AI for Technical Writers podcast: https://tinyurl.com/mppehxtn

Welcome to episode 119 of the Technical Writing Success podcast from the Curt Robbins & Associates Technical Writing Agency.

This podcast is targeted at IT professionals, technical writers, and documentation specialists. Subscribe today to never miss a single daily episode!

Today’s episode explores an article from writer and editor Diana Wolf Torres entitled "When Logic Meets Language: Can OpenAI's Reasoning Engine Make You a Better Writer?" that was published on LinkedIn on February 8.

Hosts Daphne and Fred share their spirited unpacking of Torres' educational article and her exploration of the differences between OpenAI's o3-mini and GPT-4 in terms of how they can help writers do their job.

The Curt Robbins & Associates Technical Writing Agency is currently taking on new clients. We enjoy helping companies with their documentation and communications strategy and implementation. Contact us to learn about our reasonable rates and fast turnaround.

>> Read the original Torres article: https://tinyurl.com/3u6xxy72

>> Read the Curt Robbins article "Helping Junior Technical Writers": https://tinyurl.com/yc82h4j7

>> Read the Robbins article "10 Famous Technical Writers": https://tinyurl.com/5ejznknw

>> Read the Robbins article "Tech Writers: Embrace Structured Content": https://tinyurl.com/32ysxm3v

>> Read the Robbins article "Role of User Experience in Tech Writing": https://tinyurl.com/mrdtenbb

>> Subscribe to the AI for Technical Writers podcast: https://tinyurl.com/mppehxtn