Welcome to the first episode of Linguistics Unscripted - my little corner of Substack where I can talk about linguistics, reference my work and others that inspire me and discuss some of the important topics.In this episode, I discuss my most read and listened to post in 2025… The Prompt Engineering MythWhat I talk about in this episode:* Why I’m starting this audio series (shoutout to Jen Benford’s Notes on staying true to your values and what you enjoy)* How this post relates to something I wrote back in the summer on writing skills and AI* The importance of writing skills when it comes to prompting AI, particularly in the workplace as we move in and out of writing forms* Why writing about AI was terrifying for me when I first started writing, and why voices like Slow AI , SheWritesAI, Code Like A Girl are crucial to allow more people to talk about AI* What speech communities have to do with the narrative of AI on Substack* Getting into the post - why prompting doesn’t have to be as complicated as everyone makes it out to be and why there is asymmetry built into instruction and how it blurs the lines between human-to-human and human-to-computer interaction* Why I’m dedicating this first episode to Kanan Gill 🥰* What’s next in this line of thinking - The Grammar of the Prompt This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thestrategiclinguist.substack.com/subscribe

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.

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