What we talk about when we talk about AI

Is it possible to write with AI and maintain an honest voice?

Everywhere I look, I can see gluggy writing flooding every orifice of the internet. It’s instantly recognisable as produced and posted by unedited generative AI. Generative AI is amazingly good at writing, but it doesn’t appear to make bad writers good yet (which, in a way, is a relief).

The technology’s impact, however, is undeniable. With 68% of companies reporting content marketing ROI growth since implementing AI, it’s clear that when harnessed thoughtfully, AI can elevate content quality, especially in personalisation.

Writers and their tools

On the other hand, writers have always been enhanced by technology in some way. One of my favourite books and short-story collections is Raymond Carver’s “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love.” It’s insanely concise, taut, and deep – but Carver had a secret weapon in writing it: his brilliant editor Gordon “Captain Fiction” Lish. Lish was so on the tools with the work that he even named Carver’s book. More about them later.

Tools through the ages include dictionaries, Cliff Notes, thesauruses, the Microsoft Paper Clip (“You look like you’re writing a letter…”) – and even tools like Otter and Grammarly. Of course, Otter and Grammarly are AI-driven tools: they have been around since before the term was widely used.

Avoiding AI altogether can disadvantage writers. Used wisely, AI is like having a valuable colleague who doesn’t get tired, working variously as an editor, prodigious ideas generator, and (yes, incoming AI cliche) a thought partner.

(By the way, because I used the phrase “thought-partner”, I may be struck by lightning by the marketing gods if I use the word “authentic” as well. So I won’t!).

Straining reader trust

The internet is filled with blogs and articles entirely written by AI. Often, these pieces feature large, AI-generated blocks full of numbered lists, bullet points, and prodigious use of the word “foster.”

This trend is becoming more pronounced on LinkedIn, with people cutting and pasting unadulterated AI sludge directly into their posts. As a reader, you’re asking a lot of me to wade through it all, and it lowers my trust and sense of value in investing my time in reading it. Rightly or wrongly, I detect a distinct lack of effort and care.

Independence from bad content

I remember sitting through Independence Day in the cinema in 1996 and thinking it was so bad that I wanted to invoice the filmmakers for my time (especially the bit with the computer virus – come on!). That was a whole 90 minutes or more. 

These days, as a content consumer in the age of high-frequency interruptions on a smartphone, I feel my tolerance and available time are far lower—I only have to look at a big block of text, and I’m highly likely not even to read it. The cost of this content deluge isn’t just measured in wasted time—it’s eroding the trust between writers and readers. Yet, dismissing AI entirely isn’t the answer.

Like any powerful tool, its value lies not in its mere existence but in how we choose to use it.

AI and us: it’s complicated

On the other hand, some of the discourse on writing and AI has become a little black and white. Some see working with AI as like being an athlete using steroids.

I tend to think it’s a bit more nuanced than that, much like the relationship between Carver and his editor Lish as outlined in this excellent article in The Guardian, way back in 2009:

“If, however, you take Carver’s world as a whole – the brutality of intimacy, the unplaceability of anxiety, the mess any of us can make of love – you may think that Lish saw something in Carver, rather than imposing something else on him, and helped find a form to fit the content.”
Gabby Wood, The Guardian, 27/9/09

My experience writing with AI is that it isn’t a linear process—more like a partnership. Sometimes, AI pushes me when inspiration is lacking. Other times, I rely on it to help structure or refine ideas.

Why Writing with AI Is Different

The key is to use AI as a writing partner—rather than a content factory. I use AI variously and in different roles depending on what I’m writing about, what part of the process I’m at, or simply what I’m feeling like (for example, as I write this passage, I feel I’m on a roll absolutely sans AI, whereas only half-an-hour earlier, I felt like I was writing through molasses).

Some of the different roles I use AI to enhance my writing

• Editor: I use AI like a “virtual Gordon Lish”, curbing my tendency for excessive adjectives and bringing clarity, conciseness, and impact.
• Research assistant: speeding up and enriching my research and laying a foundation for well-informed content. I do intensive quality checking and reading of source material. I recently wrote a piece with AI, and every piece of research sourcing it served me was a “hallucination”. That sent me on a mission through Google and Perplexity – and ultimately, a well-informed piece of content.
• Persona feedback: I tend to write iteratively, getting input from a couple of AIs acting as personas for the audience I’m writing to. I recently wrote a piece about technical innovations in tech. I asked the AI to review my draft as a time-pressed CEO, focusing on strategic implications. Then, I had the AI review it as a technical decision-maker, ensuring the content maintains enough depth to be credible.
• Idea generator: a hyperactive, never bored, always willing ideas-generating partner. For AI, the missing element is not running out of ideas, as a tired human can; it’s a lack of discernment, context, and emotional intelligence that only a human can bring.

Business impact

Marketers are reporting that they’re saving about 2.5 hours per day with AI, and I would say that appears to be correct, especially for procedural work like website service page copy. That’s an incredible operational efficiency savings for businesses and will likely help with talent retention. I certainly feel I have written enough service pages for one lifetime!

The benefits to marketers are plentiful. In terms of writing, by freeing us from doing all the heavy lifting on idea generation, I have more time to work on actual writing, strategic editing, and enhancement, allowing for a higher-quality final product.

Emotional intelligence and discernment

The role of emotional engagement remains distinctly human. AI struggles to create content that genuinely connects with readers on a deeper level—that’s where a human writer steps in, infusing content with empathy, humour, and reliability.

While it’s rare for AI to produce a polished draft ready for marketing use, the technology frees up time for writers to exercise discernment and focus on curation, especially on more procedural or BAU writing.

Enhancement not replacement

It is not black and white. It’s a complicated relationship – in other words, a partnership. AI can generate ideas and provide drafts, but the human writer makes the content emotionally engaging and polished. Only we have the context, gut feeling, and intuition about our audience’s needs.

Is working with AI and maintaining an honest voice possible? The answer is yes, but it takes thought, skill, and integrity.