Why You Need ‘Productive Friction’

Hello, and happy Sunday! Housekeeping note: We’re hiring a designer at Every—scroll down for more details.—Kate Lee

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Knowledge base

“In the AI Age, Making Things Difficult Is Deliberate” by Willem Van Lancker/Thesis: We're living in an era where AI can generate polished designs, code, and writing with a single prompt—but something crucial is being lost. Willem Van Lancker argues that “productive friction”—the struggle of learning through trial, error, and critique—is essential for developing true expertise and taste. Read this if you want to understand how to balance AI's efficiency with the intentional friction necessary for mastery in your field.

“Sailing Against the Current of Frictionless AI” by Rhea Purohit/Thesis: We're racing to eliminate friction from our lives with AI tools, but what if that's exactly the wrong approach? Drawing from childhood sailing lessons and his work on Google Maps, Willem Van Lancker argues for intentionally preserving friction in our creative processes. Why? Read this to find out—and for 10 practical strategies to maintain your creative edge in an increasingly frictionless world.

“I Used to Write for My CEO. Now I Build Systems That Write Like Him” by Shreeda Segan: Shreeda Segan went from spending hours ghostwriting tweets for her CEO to building an AI agent that drafts tweets in the CEO's voice—saving 5–6 hours weekly while continuously improving. She’s not simply automating herself, but improving the quality of a perennially difficult task: mimicry. Read this if you want to understand how traditional content roles are evolving and how to position yourself for this emerging career path that bridges writing and technology.

“He’s Building AI for the Person You Want to Become” by Rhea Purohit/AI & I: We're all using AI to knock tasks off our to-do lists, but what if it could actually help us become better humans? That's the vision from Alex Komoroske at Common Tools, who is building AI that aligns with your deeper values rather than just serving your immediate desires. Watch his conversation with Dan to learn how AI could function as your “exocortex,” an extension of your agency that helps you grow while maintaining your privacy and autonomy. 🎧 🖥 Watch on X or YouTube, or listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.

“Toward a Definition of AGI” by Dan Shipper/Chain of Thought: What is AGI? Dan says we’ve reached AGI when it makes economic sense to keep your agent running continuously. This elegantly sidesteps the philosophical quagmires of the Turing Test and OpenAI's ever-shifting goalposts, offering instead a binary, observable threshold. Read this to look into a future where we'll never want to turn our AI companions off—and what capabilities they'll need to earn that permanent place in our lives.

Work at Every

We’re hiring a full-time designer at Every. It’s a role that spans product design, editorial art, landing pages, and brand visuals across our entire ecosystem. You’ll have strong design fundamentals, a versatile portfolio showcasing web and product work, and the ability to collaborate with writers, product managers, and engineers to ship beautiful experiences quickly. We’re looking for someone who embraces AI tools in their workflow, can balance craft with speed, and brings both curiosity and a collaborative spirit. Learn more and apply.

​​That’s all for this week! Be sure to follow Every on X at @every and on LinkedIn.

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