The Truth About AI And Digital Content Creation

(It's not what you think.)

(This article was originally posted for paying members on Medium.)

I’ll be honest, when AI first started making its rounds on the internet, I was skeptical. I’m the kind of person who often obsesses over my writing and how it sounds. How could machine learning replicate something that requires so much attention to detail?

But now, I use AI tools often.

Usually, I use it in my drafting process. AI is great when you have a solid idea but aren’t really sure where to start. But I’ve seen both the magic and the mess that is AI and LLMs and think it’s time we have a realistic discussion about what it can and can’t do for us.

This isn’t a hype piece nor is it a take down post, by the way. It’s just simple truth on user experience, from one creator to another.

What I Love About Using AI

It saves me time

There is something kind of satisfying about typing a few words and getting a full-fledged draft back. Whenever I get stuck on an idea, AI can help me move forward.

Of course it isn’t perfect. But it’s great at giving me a starting point, which is often that hardest part.

It helps me brainstorm when I’m tired or feeling blocked

Creative blocks are so real, and they absolutely suck. For me, it’s not really about getting stuck coming up with ideas. It’s about organizing them into something other people will both understand and enjoy. As someone with ADHD, this is a major struggle.

But now I can type in what I’m working on and get a semi-structured outline. Sometimes it can be a little nonsensical, but it definitely helps me move forward in my process.

It makes certain tasks less tedious

There are certain aspects to content creation that are just harder than others. For example, I always struggle with short descriptions or bios. I’m great at writing longer ones and about me sections, but god forbid I have a 150 word limit. AI takes care of this issue pretty quickly. In the past I’ve prompted it with longer things I’ve written and asked it to summarize or shorten it.

What I Struggle With (And You Might Too)

AI can be confidently wrong

So this is one I’ve had a lottt of experience with. As I’ve mentioned on here before, I am currently getting my bachelor’s degree in statistics. I’ve had a lot of fun with it so far, don’t get me wrong. But this major is not easy by any means (and I’m not even bragging, sometimes I wish I chose something else).

I and many of my cohorts have had the experience of ripping our hair out trying to deal with different formulas (special shoutout to confidence intervals for making me cry in my intro classes) but it won’t click in our brains.

You may be thinking “oh, so this is something you use AI for, right?”

Yeah, not really.

AI models have a hard time with higher levels of math. It’s not that they can’t solve things, but they tend to overcomplicate things and even get them out right wrong. I have tried to use AI for help with my assignments, I try to get it to break things down for me. But often I come out even more confused, and just end up visiting my professors.

I’ve even experienced this outside of my studies. Once, I was doing some independent literature reviews, and was unsure of where to start in terms of finding sources to analyze. I prompted ChatGPT for some articles on my given topic, and it very confidently gave me articles with the wrong descriptions. It would give me an article and tell me it’s about one topic, and I’d read through the article only to discover it never even mentioned that topic once.

Now, I fact check everything twice.

It can flatten your voice

AI is notorious for dulling out a creative voice. There are many tell-tale signs that give away AI generated writing, and not for good reason. It tends to write using lots of cliches, and has effectively stolen the em dash from writers. These kinds of writings sound sterile and too-perfect. They sound generic and safe.

I’ve found that the more I rely on AI for structuring my writing, I also have to interject my own personal voice more. The unique rhythm and quirks of my writing can get lost unless I’m very intentional about it.

AI just not creative in the way that humans are. It’s just predictive, trained to choose the most statistically possible outcomes. I don’t think I’ve ever had it write me something emotionally compelling. When it tries, I can’t help but think it’s cheesy or inauthentic sounding. That’s still human territory.

The ethical gray areas can be a bit uncomfortable

There is no getting around it: AI scrapes data from small creators who never even had the chance to give permission. As much as I see the future in AI and data processing, that bugs me.

I come from a long line of creatives, of people who have worked very hard with their skills to make good lives. I was grown up on values that taught me stealing from other creators is bad. So I can’t really ignore it.

There is also the issue that AI could potentially replace a lot of people’s jobs. But I also see AI being able to create many jobs in the near future.

How I Make Things Work

Setting boundaries is critical if you want to incorporate AI tools into your workflow. Here’s what I do:

I revise, revise, and revise

I never post an unrevised draft that I got from AI.

I don’t copy and paste a single word.

I do, however, rework and revise any drafts I get from AI until they sound more human-like, and more like me. I never follow outlines directly either. This isn’t just for ethical reasons, but also practical reasons. I prioritize making my content work best for my readers. Sometimes AI just doesn’t hit the ball on this one.

I protect my voice

Again, I often revise chunks of writing until they sound like me. I do this even if the AI version is “fine”. I like to treat these drafts as writings from an intern, useful but in need of some work.

I try to stay cautious and curious

AI is evolving fast. I try to stay up to date on AI news, and learn about new tools as much as I can. But I still keep my eyes open for red flags.

My Honest Take?

AI is not magic, and it won’t make you rich overnight. What it will do is streamline your process as a digital content creator. It’s not the enemy of creativity necessarily. AI is a tool, and the way it’s used ultimately reflects the user and their behaviors.

I still believe there is no substitute for genuine human experience. There are just some things that AI can never do or teach us.

So yes, I use AI.

And I probably will continue to do so.

But I’ve learned how to not let it do the talking for me.

Enjoy what you read? Find me elsewhere here.

I Was "Vibe Coding" Before It Was Even A Thing - How It Led Me To Burn Out Doing My Passion

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