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Essays

Personal essays, written to express my own opinions on things of concern or interest to me. These are no-one else's views or opinions. Not my work, my family, just me.

Painting with a Critic

Jonathan Gill, April 2026

On how I use an AI as a sitting curator for my paintings, what it actually does, what it does not, and why structured critique has sharpened the naive voice rather than eroded it.

The Architecture of Trust

Jonathan Gill, March 2026

On why trust is a design problem not a communications problem, how a single software glitch can undo decades of institutional credibility, and what it means to build systems that deserve the confidence people place in them.

The Tragedy of the Commons: Air, Climate, and the Failure of Collective Action

Jonathan Gill, March 2026

On air as the most fundamental commons, how rational actors collectively destroy shared resources, and why the climate movement's dogmatism has undermined its own cause.

The Delegation Trap: AI, Cognitive Offloading, and the Erosion of Human Agency

Jonathan Gill, March 2026

On how AI outputs mimic careful reasoning while humans default to fast acceptance, why the competence gap is the primary failure condition, and what it takes to keep System 2 in the loop.