AI as your content assistant and not your ghostwriter
Let’s get something straight before we dive in. I am not about to hand over the keys to my keyboard to a robot.
AI is brilliant, but it’s not my ghostwriter. It’s my assistant.
Think less “haunting the manuscript from beyond the algorithmic grave” and more “helpful intern who works very fast, sometimes too literally, and occasionally suggests a headline that sounds like it belongs on a tax return.”
In other words, AI isn’t here to replace us. It’s here to carry some of the groceries while we decide what’s for dinner.
The wrong way vs the right way to use AI in your writing
| Wrong way | Right way |
| Letting AI write your childhood memories (spoiler: you didn’t grow up in Silicon Valley with a golden retriever named Data). | Letting AI suggest 10 alternate blog titles, half of which will be weirdly obsessed with the word “ultimate.” |
| Copy-pasting an entire AI draft and calling it a day. | Using AI to sketch an outline, then layering in your own sarcasm, anecdotes, and questionable metaphors. |
| Asking AI to “sound human” and then being surprised when it writes like an HR manual. | Using AI for research summaries while you add the actual human fingerprints. |
| Treating AI as your ghostwriter (cue spooky music). | Treating AI as your assistant, fast, tireless, but not allowed to touch the family recipes. |
Creativity: Topic lists, outlines, title variations
Here’s where using AI to create content really shines.
I can ask it for twenty blog post ideas, and it spits them out faster than I can refresh my inbox.
Some are great, some are… let’s say aspirational. (Nobody, and I mean nobody, is going to read “Maximising Synergy in Your Digital Ecosystem Through Micro-Narratives.”).
But the point is, AI gives me options.
Outlines? Same deal.
When I’m staring at a blank doc, AI can sketch a structure faster than you can say “Ctrl+Shift+N” (incognito mode, don’t ask why that popped into my head).
And titles? Oh, AI loves titles. Half are clickbait, half are incomprehensible but sprinkled in there are gems I wouldn’t have thought of.
Research assistance without plagiarism
Now, here’s where I use AI with caution. Research is its playground, but not its dissertation.
It’s great at pulling together summaries, pointing me towards resources, or helping me explain complicated concepts in human-ish language.
But plagiarism? Nope. Not interested. I like my writing medium-rare, not reheated.
My rule. Treat AI like the friend who skimmed all the readings before class and is now giving you the SparkNotes version.
Helpful, yes. Definitive, no.
Drafting: When to let AI run and when to stop
Sometimes I let AI draft a section just to see where it goes.
It’s like watching a toddler with crayons. Occasionally you get a masterpiece, occasionally you get a purple horse with five legs.
The trick is knowing when to let it run and when to gently take the crayons back.
My process: I let AI do the heavy lifting on straightforward sections (definitions, listicles, “what is” intros).
But the anecdotes? The little human detours? The sly Vonnegut reference or the confession that I just spilled coffee on my keyboard? That’s all me.
Integrating human perspective for uniqueness
This is the part AI can’t fake, the human fingerprints. Your perspective, your voice, your “oops, did I just invent a new metaphor about pasta libraries?” quirks.
AI can produce words, but it can’t reproduce you.
That’s why the AI writing process isn’t about replacement, it’s about collaboration.
You get speed, structure, and support, while still bringing the messy, brilliant, utterly un-automatable human bits.
Wrapping up (without sounding like a TED Talk)
So here’s my plea. Don’t treat AI like a ghostwriter lurking in the shadows. Treat it like a very fast, very literal assistant.
Use it for your AI content workflow, ideas, research, drafting, but always add that irreplaceable spark only a human can provide.
Because at the end of the day, readers don’t come back for keyword density. They come back for you.
