Pencil

A technology. A tool.

An aid. An accelerator.

A catalyst. A transformer.

A fulcrum. A lever.

A mind-changer. A world-builder.

A threat. A liberator.

A pencil.

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Author’s Note

Hopefully the intent behind this is clear so I won’t belabor it, but I wanted to make the narrative feel as if it was about an emerging transformative technology — AI is the obvious candidate but others could fit here — and then flip to an old and seemingly mundane technology to explore the idea that, when it comes to transformation and novelty, context is everything. That said, maybe AI is different …