AI Is Only as Good as the Writer Using It

Next spring, the University of Chicago Press will publish my book How to Write Well: 50 Pointers on Process, Usage, and Style. It’s the product of a lifetime spent studying, teaching, and practicing the craft. One lesson may surprise some readers: If you’re going to use AI, use it well. Write careful prompts. Keep editorial control. Above all, don’t let the machine do your thinking.

That advice will undoubtedly appall Bret Stephens, who recently declared in the New York Times, “I’m Begging You: Never Write with A.I.” His concern isn’t frivolous. He’s right about one thing. If you let AI do the hard parts of writing, your mind will gradually soften. Writing isn’t just a way of displaying thought. It’s one of the ways thought gets made. The sentence you struggle to finish often forces the clearer idea into view.