At the time of writing, tools like ChatGPT are becoming a mainstream way to produce content quickly and I believe that to ignore this fact is to doom yourself — the world will not return to how it was before Generative AI existed. For this reason, I have taken the decision to use Generative AI to help me create blog posts, allowing me to maintain a weekly schedule of new content. Without Generative AI, it typically takes between 3 and 4 hours to write a well–structured article that takes only 10 minutes to read. This is a poor return on investment for me, especially as I write these articles in my own time.
I think it’s important to be transparent about how I do use Generative AI, however, as I do not agree with the mass publication of Generative AI–produced content without human review. Here is how I tend to use it:
- To generate featured images for posts. I’m not a graphic designer, and without Generative AI, I’d only be able to produce amateur imagery with low visual appeal.
- To generate outlines for posts. Structuring a post is an important first step in drafting. Generative AI helps by offering different topic flows until I find one that captures the essence of what I want to share.
- To generate first drafts of some sections of posts. AI can often produce material that’s around 90% usable, saving time on typing. I never publish anything I don’t understand or haven’t personally reviewed. Much of the final content is edited by me.
- To proofread the final article. Generative AI is often better at identifying typos and illogical statements than I am when reading my own material.
By using Generative AI in this way, I am able to shorten the time to generate a blog post to between 25% and 50% of what it would otherwise take. I don’t believe it lowers the quality of the material — it may even improve it.
I hope you agree, but either way, I wanted to be open about my use of these tools so you can make an informed judgement.