I’ll tell you how I divide responsibilities with AI regarding articles.
My experience in the advertising business taught me to clearly separate the stage of generating ideas from the stage of editing them (shaping, presenting). That was the sacred rule of brainstorming for Wow ideas.
The first stage is mysterious and unpredictable, and creative people are the virtuosos here. The second is obvious and algorithmic, requiring common sense and managers’ attention to detail.
Importantly, editing can kill a great idea, but I’ve never seen it radically improve one. That’s why it is so critical to protect the fragile process of creating ideas. A mistake here is a catastrophe.
That’s why I write every article myself. I cast a hook into the empty screen and wait for an Idea to bite. Sometimes the float doesn’t move for a very long time. Or some little roach just nibbles at the bait.
Here I can’t delegate anything to AI because I both know what I’m waiting for and don’t know at the same time. When That One Idea bites, I will know for sure. But even then, I won’t be able to rationally explain why.
Most importantly, I love the process of creating Something out of Nothing too much. If I give it to another person or a robot, life will become boring for me.
But once the text is ready, I ask AI to translate it using a prompt where I emphasize preserving the original tone as much as possible. Then I change turns of phrase and words that are not characteristic of the way I speak.
At the end, I may sometimes debate the text with AI to identify excessive generalizations, abrupt transitions, or a lack of examples.
Could I do without AI and translate it myself? Of course, but that would take a lot more time, and I don’t consider the task itself creative. Yes, I sacrifice some translation skill, but in return I have time to create something else.
So far I like this division of labor. And how do you use AI?
Sincerely yours,
-Alexander
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