My last blog post got 1,200+ visitors in 12 hours. Then it got flagged on HN.

The comments? "This AI-generated writing is so grating." "I want to hear your story from YOU."

I was pissed. Defensive. Wrote an angry rant about moral high ground and "what’s wrong with using AI?"

Then I actually read what they said.

They weren’t wrong.

I used AI to write a personal narrative about my failed SaaS. The writing was punchy, breathless, "engaging." And people hated it.

Not because AI is bad. Because I replaced MY voice with a fake one in MY story.

The kicker? My defensive rant, raw, frustrated, messy, was better content than the polished post.

93% bounce rate. 0.13% conversion. Community rejection.

I optimized for traffic and destroyed trust.

New post: "I Used AI to Write My Blog Post. HN Flagged It"

It’s about the uncomfortable gap between what we think will work and what actually builds connection.

About metrics that mislead. About the value of authenticity when your entire brand is "building in public."

And yeah, it’s about the irony of asking an AI to help me understand why AI content failed.

Read it here.

Still figuring it out,

Meysam

P.S. This email? I actually wrote it. You can probably tell.