How I use AI in my copywriting work
I use AI in my copywriting work, and I have a very specific relationship with it. I mostly use Claude and ChatGPT, and the way I think about them is a kind of like having a really capable intern. They’re enthusiastic, quick, full of ideas and pretty useful in the right circumstances, but absolutely require direction, oversight and a good edit.
What I actually use it for
I use AI mostly for ideation, structure, research and proofreading. If I’m working through a content strategy and want to sense check my thinking, I’ll use it as a sounding board. If I’m not sure whether a piece of writing flows the way I want it to, I’ll ask it to check for consistency. If I need a starting point for research on a topic I’m less familiar with, it’s a very useful first step.
What I don’t use it for is the actual writing. The copy I produce for clients is written by me, based on the brief, the research and the conversations we’ve had. AI doesn’t know my client’s customers the way I do after a great discovery process. It doesn’t know what to leave out, either. It doesn’t have the judgement that comes from years of writing, editing and thinking carefully about language. That part is always human.
Discernment is everything
With AI (and interns!) the quality of what you get out is entirely dependent on the quality of what you put in, and how critically you engage with what comes back. Prompting well is essential, and a skill in itself. I fact check when something feels off and I don’t treat AI as a single source of truth. I bring my own expertise and critical thinking to everything it produces, and I edit heavily.
None of this is a criticism of AI tools. It’s an honest account of what using it properly actually requires. AI is brilliant when you know what you’re looking for and you’re able to recognise when it’s missed the mark but it’s way less useful when you’re hoping it will do all the work for you.
Where I think this leaves small business owners
If you’re a small business owner wondering whether AI has a place in your content process, it absolutely does, with the right approach. It can be such a useful thinking partner, a research assistant, a way to get unstuck when you’re staring at a blank page. What it can’t do is replace the human judgement, the lived experience and the storytelling instinct that makes content actually connect with people.
The businesses getting the most out of AI are the ones who stay human led. They use it as a resource, not a solution. They edit everything. They bring their own voice, their own knowledge and their own critical thinking to every piece of content, and they treat AI as one input among many rather than the whole answer.
Human led, always.
If you’d like to talk about how I approach content for your business, I’d love to hear from you.
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