A quiet letter for engineers who feel
like they're working harder and understanding less.
The Dispatch is a short, honest weekly email about AI fatigue, the quiet erosion of skills, and what it actually takes to build software sustainably in the AI era.
Every Sunday morning. Free forever. Unsubscribe any time.
Get The Dispatch in your inbox
Every Sunday morning. Real talk for AI-fatigued engineers.
What The Dispatch offers
One idea, deeply explored
Each issue takes one concept — the dependency gradient, the expertise illusion, attention residue — and gives you the full picture: why it happens, what it costs, and what to do about it.
Data without spin
When research exists, we cite it. When it doesn't, we say so. No viral statistics, no cherry-picked studies. Just what's actually known about how AI affects the cognitive work of engineers.
Recovery, not motivation
No hustle culture. No "10x your output." Just honest reflection on what it means to work well with AI tools without losing the skills and judgment that make you valuable.
Engineering-specific
Written for engineers who think in systems. We talk about cognitive load theory, skill atrophy, flow state, and attention residue — with the nuance they deserve.
Latest issue: The Two-Week Test
Issue #97 · July 6, 2026
The Two-Week Test
Here's a quiet test you can run on yourself: go two weeks without using AI to solve a problem you don't already know the answer to.
Not two weeks of "being more mindful" with AI. Not two weeks of thinking harder before you prompt. Two weeks of sitting with genuine not-knowing, and seeing what happens.
Most engineers who run this test report something specific: the struggle they expected to be purely frustrating has a different texture than they anticipated. It's uncomfortable. But it's also the texture of actual learning — the kind that's been missing.
The second thing they report: they can't remember the last time they felt that texture. That's the data point worth sitting with.
The 30-Day AI Detox Plan on The Clearing has a structured version of this — gradual, with support systems in place. If the idea of cold turkey resonates but feels too abrupt, that's where to start.
Read all 97 past issues →What engineers say
The Dispatch is the only tech newsletter I've kept over the years. It doesn't tell me to ship faster or think bigger. It helps me understand what's actually happening to my brain when I use AI tools all day.
I forwarded the attention residue issue to my entire team. We'd been trying to solve our "focus problem" with better standups and more process. The Dispatch helped us see it was structural, not behavioral.
The Sunday morning dispatch has become part of my routine. It's the one thing I read that actually makes me feel like someone understands what it's like to build software in this particular moment in time.