Have you ever wondered about the best way to use ChatGPT for your content creation?
This could involve specific prompting techniques or a broader strategic approach. There are so many guides out there that explain you how to use ChatGPT and other AI tools, but I rarely see ones that explain you how to keep your personal authenticity and style.
For me that is the biggest challenge today.
As someone who is always busy with text and research, ChatGPT has literally become my best companion the past year when it comes to writing. I remember when it just came out, and what it has become now. Both the technology itself and the way I am using it has evolved — and now is the perfect time to pause and reflect.
I’ve begun to question my methodology in using the software. Although I write my own articles, I wonder if AI is diminishing my personal authenticity. I manage to convey the same message and content, but it undeniably deviates from my personal touch. Sometimes when I read my text after it has been published, for example a few weeks later, I realize that a part of this text is not mine.
Nowadays, I can almost instantly recognize articles written by ChatGPT. Such articles often lack personal authenticity, with certain words and sentences constructed in the unmistakable and obvious AI way.
As I write this, I acknowledge that I don’t yet have the answer to this challenge. This article serves as an exercise to explore that question and to find, over the long term, the best way for me to use ChatGPT.
How I’m Using GPT in 6 Steps
When it comes to writing plans, blog articles or social media captions I usually follow these steps:
- 1) DRAFTING
This involves a mix of sentences ready for publishing, alongside keywords and ideas that serve as reminders to build around.
- 2) REVIEWING
Although this could be part of the first step, I intentionally separate it to gain a fresh perspective on the draft. It’s an opportunity to fill gaps, add detail, or eliminate unnecessary parts.
- 3) CONTENT FEEDBACK (ChatGPT)
This step focuses more on the theme, content, and subject matter rather than on technical writing aspects. Example: “Am I missing a subject or should I add anything?”. Typically the suggestions would be to add a broader description to the subject, add examples, visuals, and statistics or references.
- 4) EDITING WITH AI SUGGESTIONS
This can also include images created with AI (which I love to add in my articles because they are tailored-made).
- 5) TECHNICAL FEEDBACK (ChatGPT)
I review the content chapter by chapter, focusing on sentences, word choice, grammar, and style. Until now I always added this in my prompt: “Keep the same wording and language style I use when suggesting changes”. This has helped tremendously to avoid even more deviation.
- 6) FINAL EDITS
Incorporating the technical feedback and reading the article a few times with a fresh mind. It’s important for me to never publish articles the same day that I write them. You can get blinded and have the tunnel vision effect by doing so and not see what’s out of the box. A fresh perspective reveals both missing and unnecessary elements.
Reflecting
As you can see, AI is interfering a few times in the process of creating an article. I feel it’s crucial to have my own text and ideas in the first place as a draft. I want my content to keep my original inspiration and style. However, with all the above steps there are pieces of my original content that are being chipped away.
There is no denying that apps like ChatGPT brings enormous value to content creation. Some people might see this as cheating unless you use it as an additional tool to enhance YOUR work rather than create it.
You might be surprised how AI can send you in a direction, and unwillingly, manipulate and influence what you are going to write and how you are going to do so. This underlines the importance of beginning with your own idea and clear goal. Start with your version and build upon it, rather than the reverse.
Let’s Try The Following
Where would the line fit between keeping my authenticity and making optimal usage of the technology?
There isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution; it often varies depending on the topic. After all, only A/B testing solutions and techniques will give me a sense of how they feel. I won’t be able to “solve” this just by writing some theories.
A new direction would be to keep the same system I use now, but being even more careful on the changes I make. Perhaps prompting more into correctional and editing changes rather than conceptual ones. And to support that making sure I go two times over my steps before I switch back to the AI ones. Removing steps in my process is also something I am considering — less is more.
There are a few other, more specific things that I want to change:
- Never let ChatGPT decide my title. As this is the first thing people read and grabs attention, it has to be natural. The title is the first and main piece of your article — giving that away makes you already lose core authenticity.
- Always prompt the importance of keeping my original style of writing and not only ideas.
- Publish some articles with with no aid of GPT and see how it feels.
Here’s an example which I used for writing this article:
The response gave me suggestions and included:
Your introduction sets a reflective and engaging tone for your article, focusing on the challenge of maintaining authenticity while using ChatGPT. Here are some suggestions for minor corrections and rephrasings to enhance clarity and readability without losing your personal style. These revisions aim to maintain the authenticity and personal tone of your writing while improving grammar, clarity, and flow.
This gave me a confirmation that the software understood what I intended to do.
Last Words
There is no right answer to this challenge. Everyone has their own methods; it’s about finding what suits you and prioritizing your input and personal authenticity in your articles.
For me, this is crucial. It’s one of the main reasons I like writing — putting my own touch.
As someone who loves writing, my enthusiasm for reading is just as strong. But I’m bored and sad to see my feeds full of automatic generated messages that lack passion and authenticity. While I support AI and technology, I oppose it when it comes at the expense of genuine, handcrafted work. People want to relate to the writer and its story, not read a perfectly written text that lost all its core values.
How do you deal with this? Do you feel like it’s a challenge you’re facing? I am very curious about your story and way of handling this. I welcome you to share your story and approach with me, even through direct messages if you prefer not to leave a public comment.
