All Your AI Are Belong to Us.

Everyone is AI now.

You just don't know it yet.

At least that's the feeling I get from places like Reddit... and pretty much anywhere else you can comment on something.

"Nice ChatGPT post, bro. Way to use an Em dash. I can smell AI a mile away."

It's becoming a pretty standard insult. And, I mean, I get it. There is a lot of AI slop out there being sloppy all over the place.

As someone who's been learning the art and craft of writing for 30 centuries – apologies, three decades (it only feels like centuries) – I understand how to properly use an Em dash and I like them.

They're very useful when used correctly.

Yes, there are usually tell-tale signs that something is written completely by AI.

In fact, I'm guilty of doing it myself, which is one reason I'm revamping this site. AI made it very easy for me to be intellectually lazy with my writing.

Pop in an idea, add some bullet points with relevant information you'd like included, hit the bing-bing button, and you have a full post to send out into the wilds.

But it lacks creativity, and it's being disingenuous with your readers. It's like eating microwave ramen noodles without adding the flavor packet.

"Wait... are you admitting you used AI to generate entire articles?"

Well, yes and no.

The ideas behind the articles were all mine. Being the dumb bastard I can be sometimes, though, I decided to let the AI do the heavy lifting in order to churn out material faster.

Keep in mind, I was very much in the mindset of making a lot of money fast. Typically, that only leads to cutting corners, which is what I will wholeheartedly admit to doing.

And yes, I made a little bit of money doing things that way, but (a) my articles were a snooze fest without my own idiosyncrasies added in, (b) I felt guilty after the fact reading the work of others, and (c) it ultimately didn't help me grow as a writer in any form or fashion.

I think you have to understand that when you're desperate to attain a thing, sometimes you make bad decisions to get there. Just ask my credit score. Ba-dum-tiss!

I still use AI in my writing process, but I'm being a lot more responsible with it now.

It's pretty easy to tell I'm not using it anymore to take my bullet points and write the whole thing. In fact, when I use it to help me write an article now, I do the Uno Reverse of that.

I tell it my basic idea, ask for some bullet point feedback of additional things I may be able to add that I've not thought of, and to give me links to research those thoughts to see if it's worth including.

Essentially, instead of doing it for me, it's become a great asset as a research tool. By requesting links to do further research, I avoid any crazy hallucinations. It's much more a writing assistant now than a co-writer.

Truth be told, it taught me a lot about how to better my writing process.

Looking back, as I'm now updating all those posts to accurately reflect my own style and clarify the thoughts I had, the best part about them were my ideas that led to their creation in the first place.

It helped me learn to trust in my own skills when it comes to what I'm writing instead of thinking my output wasn't any good. It helped boost my confidence that I am a better writer than I thought.

Bonus points: it's helping me become a better editor, too.

It's kind of a bad way to learn a lesson.

I wouldn't recommend it.

But hey, I never said I was perfect. No one is.

What matters is how we move forward after realizing our mistakes. Learning from them, and doing better.