In Defence of Individuality

From the invention of the printing press leading to the modern novel, to the advent of the newspaper creating ‘national time’ - the theory that incorporating media consumption into our morning routines led to us experiencing time communally at scales previously unheard of - innovation and writing as a craft have gone hand in hand.

At OpenAI, our CEO, Doug, worked on cutting-edge models that changed how we work with computers. But he began to notice a widespread overreliance: with each release made, the entire written landscape of social media would change in turn. One time, it would be an overuse of emojis; another, it would be the omnipresence of the em-dash.

This inspired our new vision for the future of communication: one that resists homogeneity and champions authenticity.

Lightfern was founded on the belief that until now, AI communication has lacked an appreciation for craft. This can’t be solved with better models alone. Ultimately, it’s human taste and attention to craft that lend words on a page the power to unlock whole new worlds.

We’re pushing the boundaries of what’s possible with world-class tech, running on the most powerful autocomplete model in the world. But we also want to push the boundaries of how we treat writing in the age of AI.

Every one of us deserves the luxury of treating writing as a craft rather than just a means to an end. We deserve beauty.

Thank you for being a part of our new golden age.