Behind the Scenes: My Dance with AI vs. Human Writing

The hot topic of discussion these days is AI vs. Human Writing. Much has already been said about this topic. The aim of this article is not to jump into the conversation with facts and figures. This article is a peek behind the curtain of my own writing process. 

Is my writing AI-generated? The short answer is No. The longer answer is that I use AI in my writing process, but I don’t use AI to write. And the very long answer is outlined in this article. 

In this article I discuss the following: 

• My writing process and the tools I use to write
• Keyword research
• Free-flow writing
• Using AI as an outline generator
• How I do research for writing an article
• Crafting the first draft
• Fact-checking an article
• Editing and refinement
• Final draft
• Conclusion: Why I don’t use AI in the actual writing phase 

My writing process and the tools I use to write

To answer the question of whether I use AI in my writing I will first have to address how I actually write.  The process I will be discussing will not include the topic selection. The process I am discussing will start once I have a topic and am ready to start writing. 

My process consists of the following elements: 

Keyword research

The research I mention here refers to keyword research done for a specific article. It does not refer to the research done during the content planning phase.  

For this, I will start with SEO.app which is a plugin for ChatGPT. Through correct prompting, I will generate 5 long-tail keywords to choose from. I will then use MOZ and Keywords Everywhere to complete my research. 

I learned the basics of Keyword research from Corrie Alexander. She has a YouTube channel called Corrie Who Writes. I definitely recommend this as a starting point for beginners. Even though I do not use AI in the actual writing phase of my projects I have found her insights valuable. Corrie Alexander’s YouTube video ‘Free SEO Tools for Beginners’ explains how to use Keyword Research Tools.

Her book,  AI-Empowered Blogging, discusses using ChatGpt for keyword research. 

ChatGPT is a great tool for keyword research, but there is a very important catch to remember. This catch will apply to any part of the process where you will use ChatGPT. You must remember to not take everything ChatGPT says at face value. Believe it or not, AI can make mistakes. That is why I start with ChatGPT but then use other keyword research tools. In this way, I can be sure I am happy with the results.

Now I have an idea where I’m heading. With this idea in the back of my mind, I head over to free writing.   

Free-flow writing

I learned this useful trick from Ian Lurie’s LinkedIn Learning course, Learning to Write Marketing Copy. 

This simple hack revolutionized writing for me. And after I started using it I wondered how this wasn’t obvious for me as a writer. It goes to show you must never stop learning. Free writing helps overcome writer’s block and generates ideas when you’re stuck. 

I don’t use it only for those things. I use it every time before I start writing. I might even end up using it a few times throughout the writing process. 

The purpose of free-flow writing is to get the ideas that are in your head out on paper. These include those ideas unknown to you. It is really simple to do. You set a timer for 5-10 minutes. Then you write whatever comes to your mind. And if you get stuck and do not know what to write, write: I don’t know what to write. Keep writing until the timer is up.

The idea is for the writing to just flow. Try not to correct spelling or grammar mistakes. Ideally, you should not use the backspace at all. 

For free writing to work, eliminate distractions for those 10 minutes. The obvious culprits are the phone or email notifications. But I realized another little bugger that creates a big distraction for me. The spell checker. Those red lines really just grab my attention like nothing else matters in the world. 

To avoid this distraction I do all my free writing in Notepad instead of in a word processor. 

Once the ten minutes are up I read through my writing, take from it any valuable ideas and note them down. After this, I note down other headings and ideas I want to cover in my article. 

Now I am ready to move on to creating an outline. 

Using AI as an outline generator 

Using effective prompting I use ChatGPT to assist me in writing an outline with a logical flow. I provide the AI with the keywords I want to use and the ideas I want to touch on. 

For the purposes of this article, I will not go into detail on how I write my prompts. If you want to learn about writing great prompts, I recommend Dave Birss’ Prompt Engineering Workshop. 

After ChatGPT suggests an outline I will go through it and make sure all the ideas I wanted are there. I will also remove the headings I feel are not relevant or better suited for other articles I want to write. 

When I am happy with the outline I mark all the pieces where I think I will have to do some additional research. This brings me to the next step in my writing process. 

How I do research for writing an article 

One of the tools  I use for research is ChatGpt with the Webpilot plugin. The method I use will vary depending on what I need to achieve with the research and the type of research I am doing. AI can quickly process lots of information, making it great for discovering unique insights about a topic. 

When I use AI to assist with research I always make sure it cites its sources to me. In this way, I can check these sources for authority and quality. If the source seems to be high-quality  I add it to my outlined draft with the piece of information I need from it.

I do not immediately delve into fact-checking. This is a personal preference. Because I am a nerd right to my core, I need to keep the research phase short and to the point. If I do not I will be researching for days.

Asking AI to cite sources serves other purposes as well. Firstly you will know which sources to cite. Give credit where credit is due. Secondly, it’s effective in preventing AI hallucinations, where the AI produces false information.

I will use Google to briefly look at the cited source to check the quality and get the information I need. If I feel I need further research I will use Google to do any further research. This I will only do if absolutely necessary. Due to the nerd aspect mentioned above. 

Additionally, I use books for research. I love reading and have quite the library. If I have a book on a specific topic that is not too out of date, I prefer using the book for the research I am doing. 

Now that I have my outline, my keywords and my research done, I can get to the actual fun part. The writing itself. 

Crafting the first draft

The aim of the first draft of any writing project is to get the idea onto the page. It will not be nearly as good as your final draft will be. This is essentially where the actual writing starts. 

I do not use AI for this part of the process. Here I want my voice to speak and my style to shine. I am territorial about my writing. I do not want to share this process with anyone. Human or otherwise.  

I only use two external tools for this process. I use Google Docs as my word processor. The other tool I use is Grammarly. I prefer to check spelling and grammar as I type (with the exception of free-flow writing). Grammarly is a great tool to use and I find it much smarter than your built-in spell checker in your word processor. Checking grammar and spelling as I write simplifies my editing later. By the time I get to editing, I can focus on other editing aspects rather than the grinding and gnashing of grammar.  

Once my first draft is complete I then move on to the step I put on ice before. Fact-checking my article. 

Fact-checking an article

I prefer to do the fact-checking after I have the words on the page. This helps me to stay focused. In this step, I review the document and highlight facts, research, names, and other items to verify. 

I check that all the facts are correct and not outdated. I would put the search term into Google and then filter my results to show only the last 6 months. This is to check whether the information I have is still relevant. 

If you’re okay with a detour, I can show you why it’s crucial to check the age of information. A while ago I was doing product descriptions for a client for their herbal teas. The tea in question was Lobelia. The initial research mentioned that Lobelia can be used to aid in smoking cessation. When I fact-checked, I found recent studies questioning the herb’s effectiveness in quitting smoking. While the research is new and inconclusive, it’s important to know there’s a current debate. This way the client could make an informed decision on how to proceed with the information.  

Other than the actual facts I also check names of people and places to make sure they are spelled correctly. 

Now I am ready for the most intense part of the writing process. The editing phase. 

Editing and refinement

You will see in the table above I have listed the tools I use. I frequently use these tools in various orders during the refinement process. I will briefly describe them here. 

I use a plagiarism checker. This is for my own peace of mind. I will never intentionally plagiarise anyone. That said I still want to be sure that what I am saying is not what someone else is saying. So far this has never happened to me, but I do not want to take the chance. We are multitudes of people on this planet using a finite number of words. 

I also use the Hemmingway Editor to test for readability. My readers are important to me. As much as I love writing, I love being read. I don’t want my readers to struggle to understand what I am saying. 

I saved the best for last. Shani Raja’s Secret Sauce. I read my own work with a critical eye applying the techniques of the Secret Sauce for Writing with Flair. I discovered the Secret Sauce through the LinkedIn Learning course, A Crash Course in Writing Well. 

If you can’t access LinkedIn Learning, you can take A Crash Course in Writing Well, directly from Shani Raja’s website.

Practising the Secret Sauce has become an essential part of developing my writing. It has helped my writing become more beautiful every time.     

Final draft

After the crucial editing and refinement process I am now left with my final product. I read through this final draft and make some minor tweaks. When I am in love with my writing I know it is ready for publication. 

At the end of the process, I might use ChatGPT to read my writing and suggest improvements. Sometimes you get something useful and sometimes not. I use intuition to decide whether to use it or not. When I get the general feeling that I should end with the refinements I have made I end there. When something feels off and I can’t identify it, I use ChatGPT for improvement suggestions.  Sometimes I find what is lacking. Sometimes, I must accept the uncertainty, hoping to revisit the piece as a better writer in the future.  

Conclusion: Why I don’t use AI in the actual writing phase 

You have seen that I use AI in researching and outlining my writing. But I do not use it for the writing itself. This is not because I am against the idea of AI content generation. I don’t use AI when doing the actual writing because it is not who I am. I am a writer. I am not an AI content creator and I am not a prompt engineer. I am a writer. 

I am fascinated by AI and its capabilities as well as its limitations. But fascination and passion are not the same thing. 

There are brilliant AI content creators out there. And they do it authentically and beautifully. Because AI content creation is their art. It is who they are. None of the great AI content creators pretend to be something else. They are transparent about their use of AI. Some people are digital artists and others prefer using a paintbrush. 

It is important to make a distinction between a writer and an AI content creator.  One is not better than the other, but they are different. A writer should not be ashamed to use AI as a tool, the same way we use Hemingway or Grammarly. 

But a writer should not let AI do the writing.