On Writing in the Age of AI (For Impact-Driven Entrepreneurs)
I’ve just relaunched my blog after many years of… well, not having a blog.
And there’s a topic that’s near and dear to my heart because of my own experience. I wanted to write about it in the hopes it can shorten someone else’s journey.
So – let’s talk about ChatGPT.
When I first discovered how quickly it could organize my ideas into readable chunks of text, I was hooked (you may be able to relate).
I used it to create some social media posts and a couple of emails, and even though I made a few edits – I mostly left it to its own devices.
Now, I cringe at the thought that I used it that way. (And I’m writing this post to help shorten other people’s learning curves!)
Because pretty quickly, I noticed something: all of the sentences sound pretty much the same. There’s a very familiar structure to them that you can spot if you’re paying attention.
For example it loves these little structures:
“It’s not about (this)—it’s about (that).”
“The truth? It’s way more complicated than (insert opposite).”
“Get all of your (whatever) in one place, ensuring you have a complete (blah blah blah)...”
It also loves to put bold-faced, capitalized “titles” at the start of every bullet point it creates.
And neat (often meaningless) little subtitles peppered throughout your other content.
And horizontal lines as section breaks.
And Fully Capitalized Subject Lines for Every Email or Social Post You Ask It to Draft.
And 🚀 Lots and Lots of Emojis Around Those Titles. 🔥✨
And it summarizes the bejesus out of everything you give it! If you’ve written something that sounds like you, and you just want it “cleaned up,” be prepared to lose all the parts that actually are you.
(Yes, you can “train” it to your voice to a certain degree, but it LOVES “word efficiency” and will knock out any phrases it sees as inconsequential, even if they are the exact thing that make the writing sound like it’s coming from your own mind, heart, and voice.)
There’s a lot more, but I’ll stop there. You probably get the idea.
And please understand, I’m not knocking AI entirely. It’s a fantastic tool to organize ideas and get you over the “blank screen effect” when you need to write something.
It’s just that these sentence patterns are now ALL OVER THE PLACE.
So as a copy-and-paste, let's-just-throw-in-a-couple-edits-here-and-there tool, it doesn’t work.
It lacks soul.
The sentences and paragraphs generally have a balanced, symmetrical structure.
They are usually grammatically correct (though not always – I keep getting the irritatingly incorrect “hone in on,” for example. Grrrr.).
But the writing is... hollow.
It doesn't sound like you. It sounds like a bland person writing on behalf of you.
It's really tempting to give it an idea or a concept or a loose outline, and then watch it spit out 15 paragraphs faster than you can take another sip of coffee.
But if you want to really connect with your audience, you’ll have to put in the time to do some fairly extensive editing.
Because although the words AI spits out LOOK just fine and they seem to flow… they just don’t make people want to dive in and get immersed in your content.
A blog post written by AI is like reading the instruction manual for your refrigerator – it’s useful if you’re trying to figure out how to get the ice-maker working, but you’ll put it back down as soon as you’ve got the info you need.
A Facebook ad written by AI is like looking at a blank screen – it quickly gets lost in a sea of every OTHER Facebook ad written by AI and using all the same words, phrases, and emojis.
An Instagram caption written by AI is like reading the directions to microwavable mac and cheese – it’s giving, “Okay, I’m doing this because it’s in front of me… but I’m gonna hate myself later.”
Bottom line: if you ask a robot to write for you, you're going to get writing that sounds like a robot wrote it.
(That's a LOT of alliteration… and by the way, ChatGPT would have “fixed” it, and then you wouldn’t have gotten to rrrroll all those rrrrs in your mind just now.)
I’ll even go out on a limb here and say that the future (at least for folks who are working in the transformational space) will belong to those who are patient and devoted enough to continue cultivating their own voice.
Using your own voice is hard. It takes time and mental effort.
It’s fraught with opportunities to go, “Why did I write it like that?” as you look back over something you wrote a couple years ago.
Or “Why can’t I write more like this person?” when you read something else you really like.
The truth is, this creative dilemma has been around for as long as we humans have.
I’m not saying we shouldn’t find new ways of doing hard things (I do love ChatGPT and will continue to use it to speed up the “first draft” process and some other tasks in my business).
But I also believe that the creative dilemma is part of our spiritual path.
So why try and sidestep it (and risk making people’s eyes glaze over in the process) by using a machine to generate words for you? Everyone loses that way.
And I also predict that in a world inundated by content, we don’t actually need or want anyone to be more “prolific” – what we need is more people focusing on quality over quantity.
If you happen to get prolific, then of course, be my guest (I tend to go back and forth between intense periods of “binge creating” and periods of needing to let my brain rest, and I know many of my clients do the same!) – but don’t make quantity your goal and then try and meet it by any means possible.
Anyway… this has been my TEDTalk.
I hope you’ll take it to heart if you’ve been relying on ChatGPT just a tad bit too much.
We’d rather have YOUR voice, no matter how long it may take, no matter how many fewer pieces of content you may create, and no matter how much your writing may feel like a work in progress.
It’s what we all are anyway, right? #humansunite 😉
P.S. If you need qualified, expert help in shaping your overall message and developing strong positioning that informs that message — send me a message and let’s see if there’s a way we can work together. I’ll be your advocate for using AI the right way while preserving that one-and-only-you quality the world needs most.
Running a transformational service-based business is different than any other business out there. Your clients have to bring their own commitment to the process — so marketing hits different for them. The decision-making process requires you do the opposite of almost everything you may have learned. And your own mindset, energy, and heart need to be aligned for your work to work.I’m Helen Hunter Mackenzie, positioning expert and business strategist for impact-driven entrepreneurs working in the transformational field. I’ll help you differentiate your work, create strong messaging to articulate that difference, and streamline your marketing & revenue strategy so can focus only on attracting high-quality clients and building $10K+ months (and beyond).Book a complimentary 6-Figure Strategy Session with me, where together we'll uncover the simplest, most high-leverage shifts you can make right now to start building 6-figure success with more ease and a whole lot less overwhelm. Schedule your complimentary (no-obligation) 30-minute session today! 📆