Why I Barely Use AI to Write

At an event a while ago, I told someone something that surprised him.

Although I write a lot about design and AI, I use AI as little as possible when I write.

The trade-off is real. It takes me much longer. But I’m willing to bear it, for a few reasons.

1. I see writing as a handcraft.

If you were making a clay pot, would you let AI do ninety percent of the work? If you were painting a watercolor, would you hand off ninety percent of it? For me, the answer is no.

Writing feels the same way. It takes time, it’s imperfect, there’s a lot of back and forth. That’s exactly what makes it mine.

2. Imperfection has its place.

AI tends to chase perfection, and that constant pursuit of maximum efficiency is exactly what makes us tired. Self-expression doesn’t have a metric for efficiency. Sometimes the imperfect, genuine piece is the one that resonates most.

3. AI doesn’t truly have empathy.

You can prompt it to sound more human. But there are many nuances of human emotion it still can’t capture.

4. Writing helps me think.

If I outsource it, I lose the chance to reflect. It’s like a muscle. If I always ask AI to do the lifting, I’ll slowly lose the muscle of thinking.

That’s part of being human I don’t want to outsource.