It’s no news that generative AI has the power to drastically change the writing industry. It already has. Of course it would—writing is hard! It takes time, often large amounts of it, and with little reward. To have a computer string together tedious little word beads and create a stunning necklace is tempting for many. Let’s skip to the good stuff, ay? Have the bots wrangle the beast.
I have used AI in the past, at the request of clients, in order to plan and structure their content according to their specific goals. I know how it works, how to optimize it, and also what it gives you. Purely out of curiosity, (because I am researcher at heart) I have given my own writing to AI to see how it would “make it better.” The result was deadening, like a wax statue. It offers something with all the right forms, yet devoid of breath. Writers elucidate life—that’s what the best ones do—through a flesh-and-bone lens. It’s no wonder AI fails here, but I also hope we won’t fail ourselves in forgetting how to recognize that. What we cheat ourselves of when we do.
A great voice is rarely perfectly polished. It has its own time-given lines and uneven edges, distinction. Due to the proliferation of undisclosed, AI-generated writing that exists today, I think great voices will become increasingly harder to find, yet all the more treasured once they are.
None of my personal writing is ever, or will ever be, AI-generated. When I work for clients, the understanding is that I am offering my time, my expertise, and my talent. Full stop. Only unless specifically requested and agreed upon, will I use AI in a strategic or analytical manner at their discretion, never creatively and never at the expense of where the true art form shines. It is a tool, not the product.
AI and its exorbitant demands on an already over-taxed environment also worry me immensely. It’s sadly past the point of curbing—the people have had their taste and there is no going back. I think it’s unrealistic to believe there’s a way forward without it now, akin to ridding the world of plastic, but a better, more informed way is always possible. It comes down to the individual: we need to recognize and be transparent about it, then take responsibility. I believe in choosing to do the harder thing and in being committed to keeping the act of humans writing for other humans alive. However difficult it is, however fruitless it may feel, that is my way. That is also my gift.
Save the voice.