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Don’t Call Yourself a Writer — You’re Just an Editor For AI
Medium recently recommended an article for me about “How to Write 10 Blogs A Day.”
Now, I’m a productivity nerd. So I’m always intrigued by how others get things done. But I kind of already knew what she’d say before even opening her article.
And shocker — the author talks about how she uses AI to “write” blog posts.
I have a problem with this.
Yes, she reviews, edits, and fact-checks them. But that isn’t what I have a problem with.
It’s that she says she “writes” 10 blogs a day. She calls herself a writer.
But let’s be real. She isn’t a writer.
She’s not writing anything.
She’s generating a prompt, watches AI spit out text, polishes it up (like an editor!), and then posts it on her website. And she calls this “writing.”
I’m not saying AI doesn’t have a place in writing. It does. Just like Adobe Photoshop helps photographers, ChatGPT and other AI writing tools can help writers.
I’ve used ChatGPT myself. I use it to research topics, generate ideas, and seek inspiration for titles and opening paragraphs. It’s no different from when I read other people’s writing to get inspired or find new ideas.
But I don’t let AI write for me. If I want to call it my writing and publish it under my name, then I need to write the content.
Yeah, AI can help you generate your first draft. That’s fine. Sometimes the blank page stays blank without some help.
But don’t call it your writing if you don’t go in and make substantial changes and additions that put your writing stamp all over it.
And please be honest with your readers.
Tell them what you wrote yourself versus what was written by AI. Tell them it isn’t your ideas, your knowledge, or your experience they’re reading but that of an algorithm.
At least allow them to decide if they want to spend their time (and money) on something You. Didn’t. Write.
