Readers hate it when writers try to pass off AI outputs as their own.
But some writers have been doing the same process in reverse: they assemble premature ideas—notes, drafts, transcripts to voice memos—and use A.I. to 'clean it up.'
They think this workflow is more responsible, but it's just as pernicious.
These writers imagine writing style to be a coat of paint: the ideas are yours, they say, but AI provides the style.
But what they fail to understand, I argue in this video, is that style and substance are not independent variables. As style is manipulated, the message is distorted; and no clear style can be derived from an ill-conceived idea.
Along the way, I explore two popular AI workflows:
- LLM outputs → human editor
- Human ideas → AI editor
and show what goes wrong with each.
My promise: This is not the luddite take about technology corrupting the art form or some cranky rant about taste. The real issue in AI writing runs much deeper than that—below the surface-level features of your text, to what I call the spirit of your writing.
In demonstration of the video's thesis—that good writing is more about spirit than craft—it was filmed unscripted. If it feels more authentic and engaging than scripted videos, it's thanks to the spirit of communication that animates all great writing.