AI writing tools have transformed content creation in recent years. Writer’s block is almost nonexistent, writing can be done in seconds, and spelling and grammar mistakes are reduced significantly. But…
Are there ethical and privacy concerns?
Which tools might you use for which type of writing?
HOW should you use AI in your writing?
How do you get the best results?
In this blog post, I’ll try to briefly answer these questions and more.
Ethical and privacy concerns
For serious content, transparency is key—disclosing AI assistance builds trust. However, disclosure may not be necessary for informal content, like social media posts. You need to decide how open you want to be about disclosure.
A fun way to disclose that you’ve used AI is to reveal it at the end. For example, you could use AI to write an email and then at the end, or even in the P.S., say, “Did you guess that I used ChatGPT to write this email?” You could even say what your prompt was, as a way of helping others do the same.
Regarding privacy, there are many issues and the situation isn’t completely clear. Some AI tools say that they don’t share the results you get with others or to teach the tool. Others will state that you shouldn’t put any private information into your prompts.
Here’s the advice that ChatGPT provides on privacy. Some of it is relevant to anything you put on your computer, not just while using AI:
To maintain your privacy while using ChatGPT, follow these tips:
- Avoid Sharing Sensitive Information: Don’t share personal identifiers like full names, addresses, phone numbers, financial details, or sensitive business information.
- Use Anonymized Details: If you need to discuss specific scenarios, replace personal information with generalized terms.
- Secure Your Account: Use strong, unique passwords for your OpenAI account and enable two-factor authentication.
- Clear Conversations: Regularly clear your chat history if privacy is a concern.
- Check Privacy Policies: Stay updated on OpenAI’s privacy practices to understand how your data is handled.
- Limit File Sharing: Be cautious when uploading documents; avoid files with sensitive or confidential information.
- Log Out on Shared Devices: Always log out when using public or shared devices.
- Consider Using a VPN: For added privacy, use a VPN to mask your IP address.
Popular AI Writing Tools
I use mostly ChatGPT and it is the most widely used, but others exist. I’ll briefly compare ChatGPT with Claude and Perplexity.
They all have a free version and a pro version for $20/month.
Availability
- ChatGPT is available worldwide (excl. North Korea, Iran, China, Cuba, Syria, and Nepal).
- Claude is available in the US, UK, Canada, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand.
- Perplexity is available worldwide except in the European Union
Latest training data
- ChatGPT: Up to September 2021.
- Claude: Up to early 2023.
- Perplexity: Up to September 2021 with the free version; varies with the Pro version
Word/Character (“token”) limit
AI tools limit how much text you can input. They use the word “token,” but confusingly, that isn’t either a character or a word, but a piece of a word. So just use the stats below to get an idea of which tools let you put in the most text. (You might not need very much and can always add text prompt by prompt instead of all at once.)
- Chat GPT: GPT-3.5: 4,096 GPT-4 (paid version): 8,192
- Claude: 200,000
- Perplexity: Varies depending on LLM (Large Language Model) used
Some AI tools provide source links for verification. Examples include Sourcely (for academic research), Scite (using “Smart Citations”), and HyperWrite (offering reference and quotation features). Grammarly can help with grammar — word usage, punctuation, etc.
Ideas for best use of AI in your writing
In my experience, the best way to use AI for writing is by using what I call layering.
Let’s say you know you want to create a course that teaches 5 skills of a well-behaved dog. You can start by asking for a title: “Suggest 10 titles for a course on 5 skills of a well-behaved dog.”
When you get those titles, you can use one or make a suggestion for improvement. Maybe you want to focus on puppies and want the title to reflect that.
Now, ask it to come up with and outline of the 5 lessons. When you get that, look it over and re-arrange them. Maybe you don’t like one of them and want to add another. Tell it what you want instead.
Do you see how you’re going back and forth between prompting, getting a result, evaluating the result, and then going to the next step? That’s what I mean by layering. You layer what AI’s results with your evaluation and judgment.
When the main content is written, you can ask AI to create add-ons, such as quizzes, a sales page, and email sequences.
Limitations of AI writing
AI-generated text can feel bland, lacking personal experience and emotional depth. Relying too much on AI can erode trust if readers suspect the content isn’t written by a human.
For this reason, you need to edit the text that your AI tool creates. Add your own stories, experiences, and opinions. Balance your ideas and creativity with the productivity of AI.
Be aware that AI can make mistakes and isn’t updated to the present. Always check statements of fact elsewhere!
Reproducing your voice and style
There are several techniques you can use to get a result that sounds more like you. Here are 3 easy ones:
- For example, in ChatGPT 4.0, you can click the circle at the upper-right and choose Customize ChatGPT. In the dialog box that opens, you can create a persona and give it characteristics that will determine its writing style.
- You can also direct AI to adopt a specific style—educational, academic, promotional, or humorous.
- Finally, you can copy some text you’ve written, paste it into the prompt, and then tell it to respond to your prompt using a similar style.
These are important techniques to avoid having your writing sound awkward. You’ll also end up doing less editing, thus saving you time.
Staying competitive in an AI-driven world
Will AI take over human writers? Not completely! To stay relevant, writers should have strong opinions, use humor, tell real stories, and leverage AI as an efficiency booster rather than a crutch.
Still, some writers WILL lose work. Those that stay will use AI as an adjunct to their creativity.
What’s your opinion about using AI for writing?
Please leave a comment or ask a question!
Note: I used ChatGPT 4.0 to generate the first and last images in this blog post. But you knew they were AI-generated, didn’t you?