Why I’m totally okay that AI is “taking over writing”

As I was getting laid off from my content strategist job last year, the most notable comment came from our CEO.

It was addressed to the unfortunate lot of us losing our privileged tech jobs. He said this: “AI is coming and I strongly recommend you learn as much as you can right now to stay ahead of the game.”

At least the guy was honest. But for a content person, hearing these words could easily translate to, “Here, drink the contents of this mysterious vial and, well, best of luck to you.”

I mean, it seems like the first and hardest group to be hurt by the AI craze are the writers and content folks. Why pay a decent writer $50/hour when you can pay ChatGPT $20/month?

Sure, ChatGPT is a terrible writer, but any business operator with decent writing skills can go in and polish things up…right? ?

The aha moment I had while sitting alone in a cafe in Paris

Being a digital nomad comes with notable perks.

One of these perks was me in Paris this past June, journaling one afternoon at a small table at Les Deux Magots. Just because.

Les Deux Magots is the very same charming Parisian cafe where many great artists and writers gathered, celebrated, and launched some of the most influential movements of modern art and literature.

One of these characters was my literary hero, Ernest Hemingway. Drunk as he was, Hemingway could write in a way that cut through all our cluttered thinking and get right to our hearts.

The aha moment is this: let AI have it. Let it eat cake. Let AI write those 500-word blog posts in 5 seconds, those dense case studies and white papers, those 1,000 “personalized” emails to prospects.

Why do I say this? Because let’s be real: business and commerce content is not the same as art and literature and it does not produce the same effect on our souls.

Business is about efficiency, and AI is incredibly efficient, so why not let the robots loose to do the jobs we created them for?

What AI can’t do

AI cannot and will likely never be able to write stories that speak to people’s hearts and souls (if ever does, consider all of us doomed!).

AI could never sit down on a warm cloudy Tuesday with a cup of espresso at Les Deux Magots and feel the spirit of the place and the stories and people who have passed through over the past 139 years.

AI can’t write these magnificent stories, and if it tried we’d know it’s trying to fool us.

What AI can do

Anyone who thinks that AI is putting an end to writing jobs is correct.

But in exchange for lost jobs, AI is making life at least 10x easier for business owners and marketers who can rely on automated frameworks to run their content.

For a laid-off content strategist like me, this is a beautiful pivot and brilliant opportunity.

Instead of fighting or fearing AI, let’s rejoice and respect that it’s helping people at scale but it’s also making great writing even more scarce and valuable.

Any true writer mindful enough to know this will pick up their notebook and proceed to scribble precious strings of words from their soul.

Image credits: me, BoliviaInteligente, Marek Pavlík, Buddha Elemental 3D