To write well in the age of AI, harness AI but don't use AI to write

What does it take to write well in the age of AI? First, you must seriously harness AI. But don't use AI to write.

The contentious nature of generative AI came into sharp focus this week when a group of Singaporeans writers issued a statement protesting NLB's use of AI in some programmes.

And really, it's already too late to talk about copyright.

Red pill, blue pill

It's 25 months since OpenAI released ChatGPT to the public. In that time, I've come across experienced writers who refused to touch AI with a 10-foot pole.

After trying it out for an hour, they correctly conclude:

• The writing sucks.
• AI has no personality.
• The output is repetitive and generic.

Then there's a second group, often brandishing a set of convoluted "prompts" that promise to fix all your writing woes with a single command.

There's a third option, though: can we maximise human creativity while leveraging AI's strengths as a writing tool? That's what I sought to do for the last 2 years.

Seriously harness AI

Though I enjoy programming, can code in a smattering of languages like C, PHP, and can read Python code, prompting my way into a completed article never made sense to me.

But ignoring AI was never an option either. So, every single time I put pen to paper, I sought to use AI as an assistant to help me write better and faster.

And there's a lot it can do:

• As a grammar checker.
• To reduce repetition of words.
• Rewrite troublesome paragraphs.
• Suggestions for titles and subheadings.
• To find that elusive word (reverse thesaurus).

... and many, many other examples.

Write it yourself

If there's one thing I'll never do, it's letting AI write an entire piece of content for me.

I type out everything myself, going through every suggestion and making tweaks to the copy manually.

The logic is simple.

• AI is like a tireless, ever-diligent apprentice.
• But you can't lead it to a place you've never been.
• Using a clutch will cripple my ability to walk, run.

Which is why I roll up my sleeves and write.