LinkedIn’s “Takeaways” Feature Is a Terrible Use of Generative AI

A once-useful platform might become overrun with generic content.

Anna Burgess Yang
6 min readJan 17, 2024
a pop art illustration of a smartphone surrounded by social icons and an angry robot
Image created via Midjourney

I recently noticed a new feature as I was scrolling through LinkedIn. At the bottom of a post, I saw a few buttons. One said “Takeaways” and the other was different with each post.

Example of the takeaways button in LinkedIn
Source: My own screenshot

Curious (and assuming the sparkle icon meant that AI was involved), I clicked on it.

I was completely dismayed by the results.

The AI-powered Takeaways stripped the post of anything interesting. I got a generic recap, in bullet point format, with a suggestion for me at the end, either to create my own post or explore more information.

I immediately asked myself: what is LinkedIn even doing? Who thought this was a good use of generative AI?

AI-powered takeaways remove the human story

The most engaging posts on LinkedIn tell a story. Readers connect with the post because they can relate or have learned something.

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Anna Burgess Yang

Freelance Writer. Operations Advice for Solopreneurs. Career pivots are fun. 🎉 https://start.annabyang.com/