I Wrote More Than 80 Tech Articles as a Man Who Doesn’t Exist

I spent two years building a portfolio under a name that could disappear without me.

Me on the left, and the AI-aged portrait used for my Nick Silver author profile on the right.

For about two years, most of the technology articles I wrote were published under the name Nick Silver. Nick had an author page, more than 80 articles, and even a profile picture.

The picture was based on an actual photo of me, except the company I worked for had used AI to make me look older, so Nick ended up with greying hair and a beard that made him look considerably more experienced than I was.

I had chosen the name myself. The company originally wanted its writers to publish under our real names, but another writer and I pushed back because it had attracted some controversial press coverage. I did not particularly want my legal identity permanently connected to every future headline involving an employer I happened to work for.

Later, the company also decided that English or American-sounding names would probably give an international technology site more authority with some readers, so the arrangement suited everyone.

“Nick” came from me liking the name when I was a kid. “Silver” had a less professional history. I liked the word, associated it with skull imagery, and at one point used…