Eugene Yan, an applied machine learning researcher, has published an essay titled "What I Did Not Learn About Writing In School." The piece compiles surprising lessons drawn from books, essays, and videos on non-fiction writing. The title itself suggests that formal education leaves important gaps in how we learn to communicate.
For AI and ML practitioners, writing is a core part of the job: research papers, technical blog posts, documentation, and project proposals all depend on clear prose. Yan's essay is a useful reminder that the craft of writing is often advanced by outside reading and deliberate practice rather than classroom instruction.
Because this analysis is based on a single source, there are no contrasting views to note. The essay's value lies in its synthesis of external writing advice, and its author's technical background gives it a natural audience in the AI community.