Writing

Arguments about
decisions machines make

Start with the thesis if you want the whole argument in one piece.

Essay 01
August 2026
6 min

What Did You Know, and When Did You Know It?

Every inquiry into a bad decision converges on the same two questions. Most AI systems are architecturally incapable of answering either one.

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Essay 02
August 2026
5 min

A Confidence Score Is Not a Reason

0.87 is a summary of an argument. Under scrutiny, the summary does not survive and the argument was never written down.

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Essay 03
August 2026
6 min

You Can Buy Detection. You Cannot Buy Judgment.

Vendors are structurally incapable of selling you the decision layer, because the input it requires never leaves your building.

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Contact

If you are working on this problem, I would like to hear about it.

These are the questions I spend my time on. If you are building or buying a system that makes consequential calls and cannot explain them, write to me.

phil@philpierce.com