AI, Content Creation, and My Writing

Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash

I know that AI has been around for a while, but the sudden developments in the past few years have brought it to the attention of writers everywhere. While I think AI is a great tool for many things, I thought that it was time that I shared why I DON’T use AI in my writing.

S.D. Smith recently wrote an essay that landed in my inbox titled “Stop Making Content” (here is a link to the article on Instagram). If you are a “content creator” of any kind, influencer, blogger, author, you’ve probably heard a phrase touting the opposite: Content is King. Smith’s article offers several reasons why Christian writers shouldn’t make content creation their end goal. The endless churning out of content for the sake of content is pointless, he explains. Christians have a deeper purpose in our creative projects.

This message unlocked something for me. I’ve owned my own web domain for five years and have spent that time trying to post on my blog twice a month. Of course, that didn’t always happen, because I was living through seasons of life, including pregnancies, newborns, and ministry. Posting on a schedule didn’t always top my list of priorities, and social media content certainly didn’t even make the list.

I found myself being frustrated trying to churn out somewhat readable devotional content, just because I was “supposed to”. Something about getting traffic and clicks, building my audience. Some of what I posted didn’t feel like my best work simply because I was a tired mom rushing to hit the “publish” button and hope it would appeal to a few readers. And maybe somewhere along this process, one of my posts would accidentally go viral and my hustle would pay off (literally; more audience equals more potential customers for my books).

Efficient, but Sneaky

AI is tempting. Chat GPT could generate hundreds of blog posts and devotionals in the time that it has taken me to write my introductory paragraph for this essay. Even if I didn’t prompt it to actually write my article, AI could be utilized to create outlines or topics, theoretically saving me time. Other writers use AI. For the sake of efficiency, they have chosen to utilize AI to generate content, while branding it as their own work. Sometimes it is so obvious that something was written by AI, but other times it’s suspiciously good. Your ethics cross into murky waters when you realize that AI sources from what is already written and published online, and it could even plagiarize other writers if you’re not extremely careful. Certainly, there are deep ethical concerns here.

I don’t use AI much in general, but I have used it in the past to help me choose paint colors, make lists, and even to generate ideas for what I could name my newsletter (I didn’t love any of the hundreds of options it gave me, by the way). AI is here to stay and will be a great tool in many areas. It has its place; I’m not against the advancement of technology by any means. But AI is just that, a technology; it is a non-being that has access to more information than I can comprehend, but doesn’t have a spirit, a beating heart, or individual creativity since it is not a person made in the image of God.

However, I do have those qualities! I can take seriously the creative mind that God has given me and I can use these gifts for His glory. Therefore, I can’t with good conscience use a tool like AI to write content which I then pass off to my readers as something I wrote myself. And as a Christian who writes primarily devotional content, apologetics articles, and Bible studies, these are serious topics that I cannot simply delegate to technology. It wouldn’t be responsible—and it would actually be sneaky.

The Rat Race of Writing

“I just don’t want to run the rat race.” I said these words years ago to a former manager during a transitional time in our department. We were talking about the future, both driven by ambition and growth. She agreed with me. We both knew that devoting ourselves above and beyond written job descriptions had left us drained and unable to fully participate in the other aspects of the life God had given us.

I now have the blessing of being a stay at home mom; I write and edit “on the side”. I can choose what projects I take on, write when I want, and have input into most of my deadlines. Even though I don’t go to work, report to a boss, or give my time and attention towards a job I’m not passionate about, I’m still tempted to “run the rat race” in writing. That’s what I see other writers doing. That’s what I’m told to do if I want to succeed.

But I’m not going to do that. S.D. Smith was on to something. Maybe I don’t actually have to force myself to write articles just to hit a certain number of published posts on my website. Maybe I don’t have to spend hours on social media just because every other author does. Maybe I should stop chasing content creation and focus on simply… creating? That probably means I will write more slowly. But it also means that I’ll (hopefully) write things that are of better quality.

When I was twelve, I was published for the first time ever in an Iowa poetry anthology: a poem of two stanzas, titled “Thunder Storms And Sunshine”. My enjoyment of poetry is what led me to write from the very beginning. I love words, and I take great delight in crafting a sentence or paragraph that’s good and interesting and beautiful. I’ve read other articles on writers and AI usage, and they’ve reminded me about why I write. Even more importantly, as a Christian I aim use the creative mind that God has given me to glorify Him.

My Statement on AI and Content Creation

So here’s my commitment to you, my readers. I don’t take you for granted, nor do I take your time lightly as you read my blog. I have not and will not use AI to write my newsletters, the articles on my website, and certainly not in my writing for other organizations or my Bible studies (my publisher actually has an AI clause in my contract, by the way. I was happy to see that. Humans write Bible Studies at RBP). Will I utilize AI in other (non-writing) places in my life? Certainly—and maybe one day I can figure out how to use AI to update my website design because that would make my life a whole lot easier.

In addition, I’m recommitting myself to why I love to write in the first place. No, it’s not to generate endless (and boring) content to get more followers, sell more books, make more money. My writing is my creative outlet; but I also use my words to teach (Bible studies), equip (apologetics), and enjoy endless creativity in this beautiful world. Maybe I’ll be brave enough to share poetry, because I’ve been writing it again! And maybe one day I’ll actually write that novel that’s always been in the back of my mind.

So, you might be seeing fewer posts on my website. But I hope you’re not disappointed, because what you will see won’t be hurried or rushed, but meaningful, thoughtful words that celebrate truth, creativity, and beauty—and the God who exemplifies those characteristics and more.

“Men do not long continue to think what they have forgotten how to say.”

-C.S. Lewis (Of Other Worlds, from “On Stories”)