Can AI Make You a Better Writer? A Journalist’s Perspective
I leaned closer to the screen, rereading the paragraph for the second time and failing once again to make sense of what he was trying to convey.
Not only was the meaning unclear, but it also failed, among other things, to connect with the literal flow of the preceding paragraph.
“I am struggling to understand your message here,” I said, highlighting the paragraph while simultaneously nudging him by the arm to get him off the phone.
He squinted his eyes and, just after what seemed like a moment of recollection, added, “Oh, that? I’ve been trying for God knows how long to rewrite it.”
All writers—real writers—are constantly faced with this moment: the realisation that a sentence or a paragraph sounds off or lacks clarity, yet they feel helpless in properly translating what is in their head.
I did a simple trick: I copied the preceding paragraph and the ‘faulty’ one and entered them into ChatGPT with a simple prompt:
“The second paragraph sounds off and unclear and does not properly align with the one before it. Kindly make it better. Suggest multiple versions.”
In sequence, the generative AI produced five versions. I read through them, copied the one that best suited my intent, and pasted it into the highlighted paragraph.
“Perfect. It sounds much better,” my friend said when I asked him to take a look.
Like many writers I know, my friend is an AI skeptic—one of those who believe that using AI to write, or even assist in any writing process, dilutes their creativity and originality as writers.
The Skeptic’s Argument
Skeptics do have a point. The use of generative AI in any writing process—from brainstorming to outlining to structuring sentences—could be seen as delegating this necessary creative process to a machine.
Sticking with the traditional editorial process of writing, in my experience, is not just intellectually stimulating but also creatively rewarding. There is something about laying out our story ideas on a piece of paper and then thinking through the best way to tell the story that stimulates the human brain. There is something about outlining our story and then dedicating ample time to research that enhances our creativity and improves the overall output of stories that strictly follow this editorial process.
I strongly believe that nothing should replace this rigorous process. But quite frankly, as I juggle between writing and editing other people’s work, AI poses a real challenge to the creativity of ‘writers.’
Who Qualifies as a Writer in the Age of AI?
‘Writers’—in apostrophe—because the growing number of people who now generate content using AI are not, in the true sense of the profession, writers. It is the skepticism about this new technology within the real writing community that I’m most concerned about. For the journalism industry, the conversation divides opinions—not just regarding the ethical boundaries of AI usage but also about how and where it should be applied.
It begs the question: Should AI be used to draft an entirely news story? Should AI’s deep search features be trusted? What should writers use AI for?
I strongly believe that established writers should, in fact, write with AI—not just because skeptics who refuse to adapt will likely be left behind in the next few years, but because AI can actually make them better writers.
Using AI the Right Way
“Generative AI is not writing for me,” Jules White, Professor of Computer Science at Vanderbilt University, said during his lecture on Advanced Prompt Engineering for Everyone, a course I’m currently taking.
He continued: “I have taken control of it. I have written a lot and understand my own writing well enough to build a prompt for generative AI that can replicate my style.”
One key takeaway here is that writers who are consciously aware of their style are the ones best suited to use AI in their writing process. Another important point is that writing is not merely the act of forming sentences but the creative process of doing so.
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AI’s Role in Journalism
In journalism, AI is rapidly transforming newsrooms, as top-tier media organisations increasingly integrate various AI tools into their daily operations.
During the AI and the Future of News conference hosted by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism on March 26, various media houses shared insights into how they use AI in their newsrooms.
For Dylan Freedman, a journalist at The New York Times, AI was used to analyze hours of interviews featuring Peter Hegseth and Tulsi Gabbard ahead of their U.S. Senate confirmation hearings.
“It would be physically impossible to listen to all of the videos,” he said during the conference. “But AI helped pinpoint key segments. We then reviewed the clips, refined our focus, and ultimately found excellent examples to include in our story.”
Nathalie Malinarich, Director of Growth, Innovation, and AI at the BBC, shared how they are using AI internally to detect deepfakes in an effort to combat misinformation. She also explained how AI tools are used to transcribe hundreds of commentaries from BBC local radio stations and identify key moments in each match.
Thus, using AI in writing is not necessarily about generating full articles but leveraging it as a tool to enhance various stages of the writing process.
AI as a Tool, Not a Threat
A mathematician using a calculator doesn’t negate their understanding of mathematical principles. Similarly, a writer using AI doesn’t diminish their grasp of language, storytelling, or rhetoric. AI, in the hands of a writer, is just a tool—like a brush in the hands of a painter. The brush doesn’t create the art; the artist does.
Writers should use AI for brainstorming, research, outlining, editing, and refining their work. Some would argue that AI should also be used for drafting paragraphs or structuring sentences.
While I do not advocate using AI to handle the entire writing process, particularly the actual writing, I do not object to the idea—as long as the writer deeply understands their own style and can train AI, through carefully crafted prompts, to replicate their voice.
My Personal Approach to AI as a Writer
Recently, I have gone back to handwriting my long articles. I find it more stimulating and reflective of my personal style and tone when I scribble on a piece of paper. However, I still use AI in various ways: for brainstorming, suggesting unique angles, checking for grammatical errors, proofreading, and refining loose or unclear sentences. I did the same with this article. In fact, since this was handwritten, I read it aloud to ChatGPT, which transcribed my voice to text with such accuracy that I couldn’t help but wonder what the future holds for this technology.
For writers who are still skeptical about using AI, you might find yourselves left behind—just as many who refused to transition to the digital world were left struggling to catch up once that era fully took hold.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official position of Neusroom.
