For Authentic, Creative, and Human Content — We Need to Stop Training AI
AI or Artificial Intelligence is NOT Authentic Intelligence.
I first heard about ChatGPT in online copywriter communities. Then a client asked if I’d played with it all. I hadn’t. A few weeks later, I heard my software engineer husband having a conversation about it. Some people in his industry think it will replace most developers in 2 years. He’s not so sure. In the tech industry, the sentiment is that the ones who use AI might end up being the most desirable. But will they? Maybe for a short time. Software development still requires creativity.
You’re here to read about writing, though.
The writing industry is all over the board — some are excited because AI is helping them write content faster. At the same time, some are ignoring it and will have nothing to do with it. It’s tempting to fall somewhere in the middle, but in the creative writing industry, I think this needs to be a black and white issue. Light or dark. The gray areas are where it can get sneaky.
I wanted to give it a try. Spoiler alert — I tried it once and won’t be trying again. I couldn’t get ChatGPT to work on my laptop, so I gave my husband an input to plug in: “write a 1,000-word blog post on 10 tips to choose a creative idea to write about when you have too many.”
I won’t publish the AI results here on the blog because it will negatively affect my site’s SEO. Yes — search engines like Google will downgrade search results if it detects 30% of the content to be AI-generated.
Should you let the dumb machine write it for you?
When AI started gaining popularity in writing communities, some people freaked out. In the copywriting communities, there are a lot of conversations exploring if AI will replace copywriters, content writers, bloggers, and books.
Yes, AI will replace some needs for these roles and completely turn industries on their heads. AI is a machine. And as more people use AI for writing, they're training the machine. The output will improve and it will become harder to distinguish AI content and human-created content.
How does AI-based writing work?
AI writing uses natural language processing (NLP) algorithms to generate text. Note that this NLP differs from the NLP (neuro-linguistic programming) I often talk about. These algorithms train based on large chunks of public text, like books and articles. The algorithms then spit out new text that claims to be unique. Unique in that if you run it through an online plagiarism checker, it won’t detect any plagiarism.
Garbage in = garbage out — the (many) downsides of AI for creative writing.
The commands you put into the machine matter. And some creatives are taking the time to learn effective prompting. The more you prompt the computer, the better it can learn.
AI-based creative writing is inherently limited. It won't be able to understand the nuances of human language — especially with emotion and the intricacies of storytelling. AI won't accurately capture a writer's intent or get the context right. Maybe in the future, when the machine has more training and advanced prompting skills. But do you want computers to think and feel just like you?
A client recently hired me to fix her sales page copy for an online program she spent 10+ years developing. She asked for my help because someone else she’d hired used AI to generate the copy. I’ve never looked at a client’s writing and thought, “this is hopeless,” but the AI writing was soulless and flat. It needed a human touch, and that requires humans.
I’m hearing some people in the copywriting industry are taking what AI generates and then writing the opposite.
Some are using it only for ideas, social content, and to get past the blank page of doom (aka writer’s block, which doesn’t exist, but that’s a topic for another day).
The inconvenience of AI for creative writing.
Perhaps one of the biggest problems with AI is seeing it as a convenient tool to help people produce more — furthering our obsession with output. This convenience is what lures people in. AI algorithms need training, and people willingly hand over their ideas, prompts, and words to train the box in exchange for some work done for them. Sounds like lazy thinking to me.
Our culture is no stranger to magic pills. The majority have been trained to look for shortcuts. Not that everything needs to be more complicated than it needs to be, nor are all challenges inherently bad. The problem with shortcuts, though, is once you get used to one, you’re going to look for more.
Those looking to shortcut their creative writing and the fleshing out of their ideas are probably the same ones who are excited to scan their palms at the grocery store, willingly stepping into body scanners at the airport and putting their hands over their heads, and popping vegetable capsules instead of drinking a smoothie and lifting heavy weights.
Content creators know that new content on your website helps them position themselves as an expert in the industry and helps with search engine rankings. But outsourcing your blog to AI won't do you any favors with SEO since we know that search engines are putting a significant effort into ranking AI-detected work lower in searches.
Will AI replace copywriters someday? Probably. Not all of them. Writing coaches and authors? Nope.
AI has replaced jobs and decimated industries and will continue to do so. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. We’re meant to change, grow, and evolve. As industries change, we learn new skills and pivot in our careers. That is if we’re staying open, surrendering, and not forcing.
What AI is missing:
a soul
sovereignty
a unique perspective
emotions
personal experience
a connection to God
AI will NOT replace your connection & ability to co-create with God.
You can’t shortcut creativity.
People will sure try to, though.
I’m not willingly training the AI algorithms.
Isn’t AI just a tool to help us do our jobs more efficiently?
I had a great conversation with someone in a business group about this. She’s a voiceover artist. Another industry that AI is transforming. Years ago, she had the option to create AI with her voice and chose not to. She refuses to train the machine.
Most people are looking for shortcuts. It’s an ego trap. And by cutting cords with AI, I’m maintaining my creative energy.
Instead, I put my focus on my creative work. AI can’t replace my life experience, emotions, and stories. I’m concentrating on having more life experiences and skipping shortcuts.
Seeing AI as “just a tool” is where we run into problems. The convenience is there… just like, sure, I’ll scan my palm to pay for my groceries — that’s so much easier than carrying a wallet or a phone. No. Convenience is what sucks people in.
When visiting Epcot with my family last summer, the gate agent asked us to scan our fingerprints. Um, for what exactly? They said the purpose was so that our visitor cards would be attributed to us. No thanks. Where’s the opt-out booth? It took all of five minutes to visit customer service and show them our driver’s licenses instead. The scary part — a busy day in Disney, and we were the only people we saw not handing over our biometrics. Hoards of people happily shared their fingerprints without a second thought to get “convenient” access to the park.
We know that AI algorithms have to be trained to get better. But what’s our definition of better? Sound more like a human? Sell more? Get more ad clicks? Sound more like you? So that more people can sound just like you?
AI will always give the same boring and predictable writing style. There will always be a need for originality. So why not keep your originality with you where it belongs? With you.
By training AI with your brilliant mind, you’re handing over your sovereignty to a machine.
How I write is different from how you write — and why on earth would we want to change that? Just to pump out content faster?
Your individuality is what makes you — you. We’re often conditioned to water ourselves down as much as it is — and AI is a tsunami.
AI will produce predictable — read, monotonous and mediocre writing.
How boring would our world be if all the books, blogs, websites, and art looked and sounded the same? We need original work. It knows how to dupe plagiarism checkers, but the ideas you get are regurgitated.
Unplugging from the machine
The more we willingly hand over our sovereignty to AI, the more we create a bubble that thinks, acts, and writes the same.
Using AI will further block the throat chakra.
Worse, I see people with blocked throat chakras who think they’re terrible writers or have nothing to say will look to AI as the answer. “I don’t need to write anymore — the machine will do it for me! Yay!” Um. No.
By outsourcing your creative work, ideas, and opinions, you’re moving further away from your unique, God-given voice. Learning how to authentically express yourself is a gift — and a teachable skill.
It’s important to note that this is different from outsourcing your copy, content, or book writing to a professional. A good professional listens to and tunes into your voice and will bring it through. A writing or editing expert will help you speak your truth, write (or edit) the light that’s infused into what you’re writing, and help you dial up the brilliance. AI can’t do that.
It runs much deeper than garbage in = garbage out.
AI in the writing world will only further encourage a hive mind — more homogeneous thinking where we’re all politically correct and never offend a soul.
Will AI change the writing industry? 100%
Will I be in the minority of those writers who stay away from AI? Probably.
Will I participate? No.
Use AI to write if you want to make sure your writing blends in and never offends anyone.
One of the top concerns I hear from business owners when it comes to sharing their content is that they’re worried about the haters. They’re afraid of what will happen if they offend someone. AI only makes it easier for us to think like everyone else to stay “safe.”
More important here is to explore the deep need to be liked, people please, and to gain love and acceptance. This all comes from wounding.
So, instead of doing the deep healing work to address the root cause of why they’re afraid to publish their writing in the first place, they’ll either continue to dim their light, keeping their writing tucked away, and stay quiet or turn to AI to make sure their writing doesn’t piss anyone off.
Either way, they’re stuffing down their truth and hiding their light.
Keep digging, keep writing, keep creating.
If content creators (from the new to the experienced) keep training the AI writing machines, it'll be increasingly harder to tell what's human-created content.
The same is true for videos as deep fakes improve. That is just one reason I unplugged my webcam.
I'm excited about this transformation because while many are busy focusing on writing better AI prompts, I'll be continuing to lead my legacy in authentic and intuitive writing. This includes unscripted workshops, in-person events, and unique stories and experiences.
If you’d like to write with a bunch of real humans (no bots and AI in here), join us inside The Intuitive Writing School community. The doors are now open!
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