You Have to Fight for Your Voice

I consider myself a fairly decent writer, and for the most part it comes easily.

There are some things I don't enjoy like sentence structure and grammar, but then again who does?

I figure if I can get my point across on paper, or nowadays on a screen, mission accomplished.

So I decided to start writing blogs.

I was apprehensive at first to use AI because I'd heard so many things from so many people.

"AI is great. You don't even have to think. Just give it an idea and it will do everything."

Others said it would make you lazy.

That it would dumb down your brain.

And to be completely upfront. I say upfront because I don't like the expression to be honest. It implies I normally have a predisposition to lie to you.

It was great.

Seemingly quick and painless.

I was able to write my thoughts and have them proofread faster than any editor.

The Realization

The realization came with my blog Organic vs. Viral.

I wrote about my children and put it out without reading it one last time.

Then I showed it to one of my sons.

He was offended because the article had painted him in an unflattering light.

That wasn't my intention.

So I went back to the original draft to see what had happened.

The AI had taken liberties.

It had changed my perspective and invented things I never said.

I was speaking to a colleague one day and he told me he'd bought a book.

The moment he opened it, he wanted to return it.

He said it was full of AI markers.

He had paid forty dollars for something he could have created at home for free.

The great thing about AI is that it's fast and efficient.

But the telltale signs always give it away.

When you're reading something written by AI, you can usually tell.

That doesn't mean it's wrong.

It just doesn't feel personal.

My goal was to write blogs through my experiences, not through a computer's lens that was programmed to have everything balanced so it wouldn't offend.

I told him I'd started writing blogs.

His response was simple.

"Make sure they come from you and not AI."

I took it seriously.

I went back and corrected the blog about my sons.

I fought with the AI through numerous drafts, and it still tried to insert itself.

I finally released the version you see today.

I have to admit there are still a few AI markers that I intentionally left in.

They're a reminder that even when you think it's done, you still need to fight for your voice.

Since then I've spent a lot of my time. This still feels odd to say. Training AI on what not to do.

Be my editor, not my co-author.

The fight has been hard.

Every day it seems to fall back into old habits, but I remain diligent because I want to preserve my writing.

I could easily go back and correct every AI marker in every blog.

I choose not to.

They're part of my evolution in finding my authentic voice.