Generative AI tools like ChatGPT are changing the way people write. This is both exciting and scary for professionals and those who simply enjoy reading and writing.
The concept of AI taking on what is to us a very simple but intrinsically human task like writing does have big implications. How will it affect human creativity? Will all writing start to sound the same?
I don’t think AI is going to replace good human writers. No one wants to read robotic, generic text that reads like algorithms assembled it.
On the other hand, it can be a powerful tool to help writers organize ideas, structure work, critically assess their own output, and ultimately hone their writing skills.
The difference between getting tools like ChatGPT or Gemini to write for you and using them to improve your own writing is all in the prompts (the natural language instructions telling the AI what you want.)
As with any instructions, more detail means more likely to hit the mark. So here are some prompts designed to help writers, editors and anyone who enjoys communicating and expressing their ideas in writing.
These were written for ChatGPT but should work fine with other chatbots like Google Gemini or Claude.
1. Critically Assess Your Writing
One of the most powerful features of ChatGPT (and the other language-based chatbots out there) is its ability to review work and suggest ways it can be improved. You can cut and paste your writing into the chatbot after the prompt or upload it as a file.
Prompt: “Critically assess this text’s clarity, logic, and factual accuracy. Evaluate how successfully it communicates its core message and addresses reader interest. Check for completeness and that no important aspect of the subject has been overlooked, bearing in mind the length and scope of the text. Provide a report giving steps that can be taken to improve it, for example, further research or more data.”
2. When You Just Can’t Remember That Word
Every writer has that moment when the perfect word eludes them. Just replace the stand-in with the word that comes closest in meaning to the one you want to use!
Prompt: “Please study this text and give me 10 options for replacing the word <stand-in> with a better word:”
3. Smash Through Writer’s Block
Another problem that affects every writer at some point. Some writers say the best way to deal with it is just to write through it. This prompt generates writing exercises that might help you do that (they work for me anyway).
Prompt: “Please generate 5 short writing exercises targeted at helping me overcome writer’s block. My goal is to write a (blog post/novel/speech etc). Ideas or subjects I am interested in writing about include <insert ideas, subjects and topics>. The exercises should all be aimed at inspiring me to work towards my goal.”
4. Proofreading And Editing
Essential steps that are easily rushed or overlooked. Proofreading should obviously never be left entirely to AI. But it can save a lot of time by giving your writing a first read-through and pointing out easy improvements.
Prompt: “Proofread this text, checking for factual errors, grammatical accuracy, spelling and punctuation mistakes, or typographical errors. Then, edit the text for consistency of writing style, clarity of language, readability, and structure. Provide me with a summary of the changes made during these processes, as well as an edited version of the text.”
5. Persuade Your Audience
Writing persuasively is a valuable skill in many aspects of life, from persuading someone to give you a job interview to appealing a parking fine. This prompt analyzes a piece of text to understand how persuasive it is and to provide tips to make it more so:
Prompt: “The purpose of this text is to persuade the reader that <what?>. Please analyze the content, tone and structure to assess how persuasive it is, and provide a list of tips for improving its persuasiveness.”
Building Better Prompts
The term “writing” covers a huge spectrum of human activity and many disciplines, from drafting technical instruction manuals to novels and plays to the copy we see on every piece of product packaging. Whatever flavor of wordsmith you are, though, it’s likely you can find a way to use AI to make you more efficient, productive, thorough and polished.
Will some writers lose their jobs to AIs? Yes, and I believe the evidence suggests some already have. But those who are willing to adapt to new ways of working and adopt new technologies, like generative AI in their toolkit, won’t find themselves short of opportunities.
