How I use AI to write without compromising my voice

As a professional writer, I use AI tools daily and constantly experiment with new approaches. Here's what I've learned that can help your writing.

In general, I experiment with frontier AI models from leading Western labs: OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, and Grok.

Three strategies stand out.

Match models to writing tasks

The different AI models have quite different capabilities under the hood.

• GPT-4o is very versatile and can write or edit well.
• Claude Opus 4 is exceptional at writing tasks.
• Use Perplexity's Reasoning mode for research.

So, some models could fit your needs much better than others.

Isolate unrelated work

To ensure judicious use of my time, I time-box the posts I write daily, which means I often leverage AI tools to speed up my writing.

To avoid confusion, I typically fire up multiple chat sessions. A typical session could have chat windows for:

• Checking logic, grammar and story flow.
• Verifying or invalidating certain facts.
• Finding precise words.
• Researching topics.

Clean contexts produce better output.

Use dedicated writing modes

The various AI tools have dedicated modes that are actually pretty powerful for writing. They all work differently, though, so you need to try them yourself.

Here's a quick overview:

• ChatGPT and Gemini Canvas let you edit inline. I particularly like the ability to select specific text and apply custom prompts directly to those selections.
• Claude Artifact doesn't allow you to edit text directly. It is still very useful, particularly with Claude Opus 4, though it'll take a while to get used to it.

Use whatever tool gets you unstuck - or writing better and faster.

Concealing AI use

It's worth noting that every AI model invariably produces clichés and telltale signs of its origins. It can also flatten your unique voice into polished but soulless words.

In general, skilled writers who use AI extensively have a chance of telling whether you used AI. The exception is if you:

• Know exactly what you want to say.
• Can write well enough to edit AI's output.
• Understand that editing and writing are different skills.

In case you were wondering, all my posts are typed out by hand into AuthoredUp.

I use AI in separate windows to:

• Request critical feedback.
• Brainstorm stronger headers.
• Smooth out awkward sentences.
• Target specific edits with precise prompts.

tldr; I can't yet get AI to produce content that exceeds what I can write.

I'm happy to answer any questions you might have about writing using AI.