How AI Fits Into My Writing Process

As someone with a content marketing background, I have ambivalent feelings towards AI.

AI is incredibly useful for creating content around topics where I'm not a subject matter expert, but I need to publish something that will generate enough interest for someone to want to learn more and connect with that expert.

In addition to using it to plan and produce content at work, I also use it as an aid for maintaining my LinkedIn presence: using it to polish my ideas and write monthly summaries of what I've done so it's easy for me to remember for mid-year and year-end reviews.

However, my one rule is that AI doesn't get to do the thinking for me.

That rule matters more as the tools improve. A polished paragraph on almost any marketing topic is now a few seconds away, which means polish has stopped being a sign that someone has something to say. What I want readers to get from me is what a tool can't supply: what I ran, what happened, and what I made of it. So I've become deliberate about where AI sits in my process and where it stops.

Getting from "I have something to say" to a starting point

Most of my content begins as a sense that there's a post in something, but I'm unsure what the main takeaway should be (for example, a campaign did something I didn't expect, or a conversation with a colleague stuck with me).

This is the stage where AI helps me most. I'll describe what happened in a messy, unedited way and ask for a few angles I could take. The value is in my own reaction: seeing several framings side by side shows me which one I'd stand behind and which ones I'd never write.

A good example is my LinkedIn post about the 30th anniversary Tamagotchi pop-up event that I attended one weekend. I wanted to talk about how, as a marketer, I enjoyed the various activations but needed help tying it back to my work as a demand gen professional.

When I have a post idea that is half-baked like this, I start by writing a rough draft and then having AI suggest a direction.

Once I see my options, I edit it (one of my preferred activities, believe it or not!) and my post is good to go.

Hooks and subject lines also get the same treatment. Whether it's the first line of a LinkedIn post or the subject line on a nurture email, I'll ask for alternates so I'm choosing among options instead of settling for my first attempt. Sometimes one of them wins. Other times the exercise sends me back to rewrite my own version with a better sense of what it was missing.

Repurposing and tightening, in that order

At my job, one idea usually deserves more than one format. A blog post can become a LinkedIn post, a few lines for a newsletter, and captions for other platforms.

AI handles the mechanical part of that translation well, adjusting length and structure for each channel, and I adjust the voice afterward.

Having AI in my content creation toolbox has definitely been useful in generating these creative assets quickly so our marketing team can stay on top of our messaging about new products or ideas.

Sorting a month of work into a recap

My monthly "what I learned" recaps bring all of the above together for my personal brand. A month of demand gen leaves a trail in a lot of places: campaign results, trade show activity, what we published on our podcast and newsletter, and whatever notes I kept along the way.

AI helps me group that material into themes so I can extract the most impactful takeaways to share with my audience. It is also helpful in keeping track of my accomplishments throughout the year so I can easily share them for HR reviews and resume highlights.

The real work will always have weight

AI can help shape the story, but the story exists because I did the work. That's what I try to protect, and it's a useful check on my own content: when a draft doesn't sit right with me, the fix is usually to draw on more experience, and a better prompt won't supply it.

I expect the line between what I hand off and what I keep will move as the tools change.

Overall, this process has allowed me to stay on track with my content creation goals both professionally and personally, which in turn keeps me visible to my network. All this works towards my ultimate goal of being well positioned to find a new opportunity should my role ever be impacted.