I often wonder what is worth writing about, especially now that tools like ChatGPT exist. I learn a lot with ChatGPT, on everything and especially for my daily job. This leads to the following question: is it still useful to write technical blog posts about things you learn? If anyone can ask ChatGPT and get an answer tailored to their problem, what is the point of sharing your own notes publicly? Here are the reasons why I still think it is worth doing.
First of all, I don’t only write for others. I write for myself. When I try to explain something in writing, I quickly notice what I don’t really understand yet. Writing forces me to slow down, organize my thoughts, and be precise. Many times, I realize that something was not as clear as I thought, often right before publishing. Publishing also changes how I work. When something is public, I take more care. I re-check things. I don’t mind being wrong, and I’m happy to be corrected, but writing with the intention to publish makes me more careful.
ChatGPT is extremely helpful, but it does not know everything. Sometimes it is wrong, and sometimes it misses very specific details. I’ve had cases where it gave me incorrect information or missed small but important things. Writing about these experiences creates something concrete that didn’t exist before and might help others.
Finally, blogging is not just about sharing answers. It’s about sharing how I understood something, what confused me, and how I resolved it. That process matters, both for me and sometimes for others.
I was encouraged in this direction by posts from people like Simon Willison, who wrote and shared articles about what to blog about and why writing helps learning: