Some of the purist writers will call me a b*stard.
But yes: There’s some of my content that I’m writing with AI. And I’ve been open about it since the beginning.
Before bashing me in the comments, I said with AI, not by AI. I also said some of my content. Not all my content.
I treat AI like a ghostwriter and a collaborator. Not like an author. Not like a replacement. And I never hit “generate” and “publish” at the same time.
The ideas, the writing style, and the editing are still mine.
After writing close to a million words with AI, and helping dozens of clients do the same, here’s my honest-to-heart take on where AI can be helpful, and when you should stay away from it.
You don’t have a writing style
I’ve said it time and time again:
One of the best ways to prompt AI to write like you is to feed it some of your writing samples.
But the problem is when you don’t have any writing samples. Or when you feed AI with content that’s just meh.
AI is only going to amplify the mediocrity.
So, if you really want to use AI to write content faster, you need to:
- understand how to write
- know how to do it manually
- enhance the pieces that you already have.
Think of it as calculators and mathematicians. Mathematicians know how to do the calculations by hand. They just use machines to get there faster. They also know how to troubleshoot the machine in case things go south.
The first thing to do is to develop a writing style.
And how do you do that? Well, by writing manually.
You’re building the wrong business
Let’s say you hate writing.
But you base your whole business around it. Then stop it. That’s dumb.
A few years back, I was running a successful e-commerce company.
But I’m an introvert. I hate managing people. I don’t want to have to follow up with suppliers or freight forwarders. I hate comparing quotations. And I also hate negotiating.
Read: I was digging my own grave.
I hated almost every second of it. I burned out. I divorced.
The main goal of creating an online business is to do something you enjoy and make decent money from it.
So if you hate writing, AI won’t save you.
Why take on all the risks, stress, and headaches? Keeping your 9-5 is probably a better option than starting to write online.
You don’t want to become good
AI can help you go from terrible to good.
But not from good to great.
That’s still legwork you have to do by yourself. The reason is that AI is trained on a sea of mediocrity. And yes, you can make it better with prompting. You can make it better with fine-tuning.
But becoming really great at it? That’s not on the cards. At least for now..
So here’s what I recommend: Use AI for tasks that you don’t want to become good at.
As I’m writing this, I have no intention of becoming good at social media content or Substack Notes. The reason is that I deeply hate short-form content.
However, I use AI to write these based on my ideas.
You’re short on time
Many of my clients are neck-deep in their 9-to-5 or have their own business.
They can’t really justify putting another three to four hours a day into creating content. I can. Because I’m doing it full-time.
So if you’re short on time but would like to get more leverage and amplify content or notes or thoughts you already have about your niche, then AI can be a great helper.
One of my clients loves to write. But his practice is overflowing with patients. He still wants to keep in touch with his list.
So here’s what we did: We worked on reducing the load in the practice while maintaining (and even growing) the income – and turning consultations and conversations with patients into content.
In his case, AI is helping him get to a point where he can crank out things faster, make more time, and then eventually write more.
You enjoy it
If you love writing, why outsource it?
Isn’t the joy of doing the task itself one of the best rewards?
Brainstorming
I see many writers brainstorming ideas with AI.
But the real insights happen when you:
- think
- take notes
- make connections with ideas
AI can be a good tool to spark some of your own thinking.
But out of the box, AI ideas are too generic, too predictable, and just too mediocre.
Rehashing ideas
Creating content is about repeating the same thing but in different ways.
It sounds completely unfair.
But sometimes just tweaking the headline of the article is all you need to turn a dud into a diamond.
There are several reasons for that. Perhaps it’s the algorithm, perhaps it’s the keywords, perhaps it’s just something else.
If you want to rehash your ideas and repeat them in different ways you have two choices.
First, you could do it manually.
And sometimes that’s good because it allows you to refine your thoughts.
But sometimes it can also be very boring.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t like it when things get too boring.
AI can be a great helper to rehash the same ideas, but in different ways. Because sometimes you’re going to say something and it won’t resonate. But say it in a different way, and the idea suddenly resonates.
Ramit Sethi is in financial education. He’s known for his anti-Budget philosophy.
So he repeats the idea 100 different ways:
- “Don’t track every dollar.”
- “It’s okay to spend $5 on your latte.”
- “Design a rich life once. Then live it.”
- “Budgeting is for poor people.”
It’s more or less the same core idea but expressed in different ways.
And the AI can do that for you.
You think it will help you think less
Some people say that AI will make us dumb.
I actually found that if you use AI right, it will actually help you think better.
Here’s what I mean:
One of my earliest uses of AI was to use it to write my first blog post drafts. And after weeks of prompting, I found that the best way is to start with a content angle and an outline first.
And believe it or not: Finding a good angle and writing an outline is hard.
It requires you to put your thoughts on paper. It requires you to get really clear and sharp about what you want to say, and how you want to say it. It requires you to know what your audience wants.
And that exercise alone actually separates the men from the boys.
These days, I really spend more time on the angles and the outline than on the writing itself.
Think of it as the foundations of a building. If they are shaky, your house won’t hold up.
Same with your ideas.
Let’s finish here
Whether you should use AI or not in your content goes completely back to you.
But you need to understand the limitations and also the capacities.
I see many people here getting very emotional about using AI in writing. They’re either spitting on AI or being a complete fanboy.
Truth is, it’s a technology that’s going to stay and will massively disrupt our economy.
It can also be a great tool if you actually know how to use it right.