5 Tips for Writing in the Age of AI
Writers have a problem. At least that’s the prevailing narrative of the day.
First, they were squeezed by economic changes in “career writing” over the past two decades. As financial prospects for prototypical writing careers—namely journalism and the publishing industry—dwindled, the writing landscape became hypercompetitive. Many would argue that academia is following the same path today.
Then came the Internet, with the promise of democratizing the writing process and expanding it in countless new directions. While bolstering both the depth and the breadth of information at our fingertips is a positive achievement for humankind, our society is now awash in a vast ocean of content.
Today, artificial intelligence built on large language models (LLMs) threatens to “do it all for us.” The popular hypothesis is a bleak, dystopian future devoid of ideation, creative thought, or other forms of self expression.
What’s a writer (or anyone who writes, really) to do?
I’ve given this future some thought, and I have some ideas . . . five, to be specific:
Think. Sound self-apparent? Writing really is thinking! As Leo Batauta shares in Why You Should Write Daily, “thoughts and feelings are nebulous happenings in our mind holes, but writing forces us to crystalize those thoughts and put them in a logical order.” This incessant mental chatter remains intangible (and uniquely yours) until it’s expressed clearly, concisely, and coherently. This is easier said than done of course, but give it some thought and you’ll find that better writing is really just better thinking.
Amplify Your Purpose. From internal to external justifications, emotional thickets to sensible practicalities, there is a wide range of reasons that we write. When you hit a writing block, return to your central purpose (for there is rarely just one), and amplify it. As an example, my main purpose in this article is to help fellow writers navigate an increasingly overwhelming written landscape, both practically and emotionally.
Leverage AI. Ah, the L-word, the bane of all business writing. I use it here because it captures what I think a healthy (if optimistic, or maybe naive) relationship with AI might look like: take it for what it is, and use it for your purposes. Struggling with writer’s block? Make AI your muse, your guide, someone (or some what, really) who (or that) retains independence of thought without blindly accepting the words put together in front of you. Generative AI is still just a word prediction engine.
Write for Reflection. Writing serves you first, not some external audience waiting to judge what you produce. And because there’s surprisingly little substance in our racing thoughts and feelings, writing exposes their fleeting nature to great effect. Self-reflection on the page is even similar to the “noting” technique in meditation, and it’s no wonder that it’s been found to have therapeutic effects.
Step Away. For the analytical and academic types, reading and writing can feel like the end all be all. It’s not. Remember that the best parts of life are experiential; if you’re feeling flustered, get up and get outside. You can’t and you won’t squeeze the whole of your life into the confines of a page.