We see it all the time: someone decides they need a content boost for their website, so they fire up ChatGPT and type, “Write me 50 articles about pain management.” Next thing you know, they’re copy-pasting each one, hitting publish, and then waiting for Google to notice.
It sounds efficient, right? But here’s the problem: none of those articles tells the company’s real story. A lot of those posts may not even be factually accurate. I get the appeal. AI is everywhere now, and the promise of unlimited content with just a few keystrokes is tempting.
But we genuinely believe that chasing efficiency with AI, at least when it comes to telling your brand’s or your own story, is actually a liability. You lose the things that make your perspective unique. You risk publishing information that’s bland, or worse, misleading. And you basically hand over your voice to a machine that has no idea what it’s like to be you, or your business.
There Needs to Be a Balance Between Original and Unique Content and AI Content
Let us walk you through how we personally use AI on some of the blog posts we write, because, yes, we use it, and no, we’re not about to pretend we’re some kind of wordsmith purist who never leans on digital help. But we use it in a way that makes the most of my own experiences and opinions, not one that erases them.
Step 1: Write the Skeleton Yourself
Every post starts with my own outline. Sometimes it’s just bullet points, sometimes it’s messy paragraphs, but it’s always grounded in my actual experience. I include the stories that happened to me, the jokes you may naturally think of, and the opinions you hold, right or wrong.
This is the part that nobody else, and certainly no AI, can do for us. It’s what makes the post sound like a real person wrote it. It’s also what we think makes it worth reading in the first place.
Step 2: It’s OK To Ask AI For a Grammar Check
Sometimes, all we want is a little polish on our written work. We’ll paste a draft into a certain tool and ask it to check the grammar. That’s it. No fancy rewrites, no “make this sound funny” requests, just a clean-up. It’s like having a super-fast proofreader on call. The post still sounds like me, only with fewer typos and run-on sentences.
Step 3: Use AI for Alternative Versions and More Original Idea Baiting
Other times, we may be curious to see how AI would phrase something I’ve written. Maybe we got stuck, or maybe we just want to see if there’s a punchier way to say what we’re trying to say. So, we will have AI rewrite a section, or even the whole post.
However, and this is the key, we never want to just copy-paste what it gives me. Instead, we blend the bits that we like with our own original content. Sometimes, we may go back to the version entirely, but the process of seeing another “voice” can help decide what’s strong and what’s weak in the original draft.
Here’s the truth: doing it this way probably takes us longer than just writing the post from scratch. But we may keep doing it because we like the inspiration from the back-and-forth. Sometimes AI suggests a phrase or a structure we wouldn’t have thought of, and sometimes it reminds us how much better my own stories sound.
Avoid Doing This at All Costs
One rule I always follow: I never ask ChatGPT to “make this sound funny” or “write this blog post in my voice” and then depend on it to write something from scratch. Why? Because, frankly, that’s not genuine. If we did that, every day would read like a different person, one day witty, the next day robotic, the next day accidentally Australian. Remember, AI can only imitate, not originate.
The one thing AI cannot invent is your actual experience. Your real-world stories, your wins and losses, your genuine opinions, those have to come from you every time. That’s what makes your blog worth reading, and that’s what will keep people coming back.
Think Of AI As Just a Tool and Don’t Let It Replace Original Content
AI is a powerful tool. It can save you time, inspire you, and help you clean up your writing. But don’t let it replace the parts of you that make your content unique. The real value of your blog is your perspective, your experience, and your voice. Use AI as a tool, not as a crutch.
So, if you’re short on content and you don’t know where to start, start with your story. Let AI help you refine it, but don’t let it write the story for you. Your audience will thank you for it, and you’ll stand out in a sea of copy-paste content.
