UPDATED APRIL 17, 2026
My experience with AI writers
I’ve been testing out AI writers since 2020.
Back then, AI advocates everywhere were constantly baiting writers like me. Telling us how AI was going to ‘put us out of work’. Displaying some mediocre AI-written drivel and asking ‘are you scared yet?’
Not if that’s the best you’ve got.
But they always say you should know your enemy, so that’s what I set out to do.
I can separate my experiences with AI into two distinct time periods: before ChatGPT and after ChatGPT.
Before ChatGPT
I tried a number of AI writers before ChatGPT came along and in every case, they had been oversold. It didn’t do what they said it would and — sorry, not sorry — you’re about to see a lot of air quotes.
The ‘research’ was highly questionable. In many cases, I couldn’t find where the information had come from and had to conclude that AI had made it up.
The ‘writing’ was clunky, repetitive, and horrible to read. Some of it didn’t even make any sense.
And due to the scant prompts and commands I was able to give, the AI was ‘writing’ without an objective. In other words, it didn’t understand why it was writing what I’d asked it to write, so there was no strategy behind it.
Now, I know AI is only supposed to assist the writing process, but it would have taken me longer to fact-check and salvage what it had ‘written’ than it would have taken to research and write it from scratch.
In conclusion, I couldn’t see a reason why I would use it. There wasn’t any benefit to me.
After ChatGPT
Compared to those AI ‘writers’ I tested, ChatGPT is a completely different animal. With access to the live internet, the technology is evolving and it can do much, much more.
But, it still has its limitations. There are things it doesn’t do well and areas where it really can’t be trusted.
If you’re considering working with a human copywriter or content writer, it’s only natural to have concerns about AI, whether a writer is using it and how they’re using it.
With this in mind, I want to be transparent about my stance on AI and how I’m using it or may use it in future.
From this point, when I talk about AI, I’ll be referring to the free version of Chat GPT, because if I use any AI at all in my process, it will be this one.
The limitations of AI
For all its advances, AI still has limited capabilities in certain areas.
AI needs a lot of guidance
Like any computer program, AI needs to be told what to do.
It has the basic skills, but to get something more than just its basic output, it needs prompts. Finding the right prompts is a challenge in itself and even after a lot of trial and error, it can still be way off the mark.
AI makes things up
Exceptional content relies on exceptional research. The research takes more time than writing the content.
I can spend hours going down rabbit holes, looking for credible, up-to-date information and tracking down the original sources.
I sometimes use AI to find information for me, but it still makes things up when it can’t find it.
AI doesn’t provide viable SEO keywords
You can ask ChatGPT for keyword ideas, but there’s never any data to support what it suggests and the keywords are never usable.
AI is devoid of humanness
When it first emerged, people applauded AI for how human it sounded. But it soon became clear that what really impressed them was its ability to string a vaguely coherent sentence together.
Wow. Amazing 🙄
Except, when you’ve been using for a while, you realise it actually does sound robotic — to the point where you even start to recognise it out in the wild. It may be learning and evolving, but AI still has the modus operandi of a robot. Because it is a robot.
It will never have a human experience. It may never form an opinion of its own. It will never create something original or unique because its ‘work’ will always be regurgitated from content that already exists.
My approach to AI
My earlier adventures with AI have made me cynical. I’ve learned not to expect too much and to take everything it gives me with a sizeable pinch of salt.
And I don’t trust it. Not even a little bit. So I won’t be relying on it for anything.
Having said that, AI does have its uses.
I will be using AI for:
1. Inspiring blog post ideas
I used AI to generate a list of blog post ideas for my own business. They weren’t very inspiring, but the exercise worked well as a springboard for thinking up better ideas of my own.
I will use it again for blog post ideas, but mainly for inspiring my own ideas.
2. Checking lists
AI is good at creating lists.
If I’m writing a listicle, I’ll use it as a checklist at the end of the process, to make sure the content I’ve written is comprehensive.
3. Making sense of client copy
Occasionally, clients ask me to edit copy or content they’ve written. But sometimes their terminology and sentence structure is overly complex and not totally clear.
I’ve used AI to translate copy like this into plain English. And, though its interpretation of the copy wasn’t correct, it helped me read it differently, so I could understand what it was trying to say and rephrase it.
I may use it again to help me make sense of client copy, but not for the editing or rewriting itself.
4. SEO comparison
I’m still doing SEO the way I always have, with a keyword research tool and a bucketload of skills and experience.
But if a blog post needs to rank for competitive keywords, I might use AI to compare what I’ve written against the competition — and I may tweak my SEO so it competes more effectively.
This isn’t an automated process. It’s something I’ll do myself using the data AI provides.
5. Customer profiling
Part of my copywriting process involves building up a profile of my client’s ideal customer, so I know exactly what and how to write for them.
For example:
- What they like and are hoping for
- What they don’t like
- What’s most valuable to them
- What frustrates or annoys them.
This process can take hours of review mining and scouring the forums. But if I point AI in the right direction, it will scan and consolidate this data much faster than I can.
6. Research
Now AI has access to live internet, it’s better for research than it’s ever been. That said, I don’t often use it, but, if I do, I do so with care and caution.
I usually ask for specific information and I always ask for sources and links, so I can verify the information myself before I use it.
I won’t be using AI for:
1. Any kind of writing
I’ve been a copywriter for more than 20 years and I enjoy the writing process.
By contrast, I find AI incredibly tedious and frustrating. It can’t do a better job than I can and involving it in my writing process isn’t going to save me any time.
In other words, I don’t see the value in wasting time prompting a machine to do my job, when I could just be doing my job.
Anything I write for you, or for myself, will be 100% written by me.
2. Copy-editing
As I’ve proved in my own experiments, AI isn’t too sophisticated when it comes to reading and understanding what others have written. I don’t trust it to copy-edit my own work — and I especially don’t trust it to edit yours.
4. Social media posts
Currently, I don’t write social media posts for anyone except myself and I don’t expect that to change. But I won’t be using AI to write my posts.
About me
I’m Jenny Lucas, a freelance copywriter and content writer based in Leicester, UK.
I’ve been working as a copywriter for more than 20 years.
I’m Gen-X, which means I grew up without the internet. I’m not a technophobe by any means, but I’m more interested in people than technology and I value the human experience.
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