My Medium friends can read this story over there as well.
AI is no longer optional for writers, unfortunately.
Even if you don’t use it, you’re surrounded by it.
AI’s the pen, the brainstorming partner, the editor, and sometimes the friend who has ideas you didn’t.
But there’s a problem.
If we use AI the way most people do (who aren’t writers), you end up sounding exactly the same as everyone else who uses AI.
Polished. Generic. Full of clichés about “leveraging innovation.”
That’s content. It can work. But it isn’t (good) writing, right?
If you want to write human with AI, meaning your words feel alive, real, and like you, you need to use AI differently.
And it takes some work and time.
Here’s how I like to do it.
1. Start With Your Ideas
Most people seems to use AI’s ideas to write content. But why? I bet you have some cool ones yourself.
Typical approach: “Hey AI, write me an article on how to be productive.”
Result: You get something that sounds like… an AI magazine on productivity.
Better approach: Tell AI what you think first.
“Here’s my take on productivity. It’s mostly procrastination disguised as planning. I believe most tools waste time. I prefer simple tools. Can you turn that into a strong intro, keeping my sarcasm?’
AI is a mirror. If you give it “nothing with substance”, it returns “nothing with substance”.
If you feed it your opinions and quirks, it will work with them. Might still not sound perfect. But it’s a good start.
Never ask AI “what should I say?”, always tell it what you already believe. It can pinpoint your mistakes and correct you, too.
2. Keep the Structure, Kill the Voice
AI is fantastic at structure: organizing ideas, outlining sections, chaos → clarity.
But AI is terrible at voice: emotion, tension, little moments of humanity that make writing unique.
Also, AI humor is pretty barebones.
So split the tasks:
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