AI Writing Tools Made Me a Worse Writer (Then a Better One)
In January I decided to use AI writing tools for everything. Emails, lesson plans, feedback on student papers, my own blog posts — all of it. I wanted to see what would happen.
Week one was amazing. I was producing twice the output in half the time. Week three, I realized I hadn't had an original thought in days. By week four, I read something I'd "written" and didn't recognize my own voice.
What AI writing tools are genuinely good at
First drafts when you're stuck. Writer's block is real, and having a tool generate a rough draft that you then rewrite in your voice is legitimately useful. The key word is "rewrite." If you publish the first draft, you're not writing — you're editing a robot.
Structural suggestions. "Reorganize this into a more logical flow" is something AI does well. It can spot when your argument zigzags or when a paragraph is in the wrong place.
Catching blind spots. I wrote a lesson plan and the AI pointed out I hadn't addressed what happens if a student finishes early. I'd been teaching for 8 years and never thought about that specific scenario. Useful.
What AI writing tools are terrible at
Voice. Every AI tool produces the same "helpful assistant" tone. You know it when you see it: "In today's rapidly evolving landscape..." No human starts an article like that. Well, no interesting human.
Opinions. AI tools are trained to be balanced and non-controversial. But good writing often takes a stance. "Both sides have valid points" is accurate and also incredibly boring to read.
Knowing when to shut up. AI tools always generate content when asked. They never say "this doesn't need to be written." Sometimes the right answer is a 3-sentence email, not a 5-paragraph essay.
What I do now
I write first drafts by hand. Then I use AI to check grammar and suggest structural improvements. Then I rewrite any section where the AI's suggestion made it sound less like me. It's more work than just letting the AI write everything, but the output is actually mine.
The irony of AI writing tools is that they're most useful once you're already a good enough writer to know when the AI's suggestion is wrong.