Based on my conversations there are a lot of people who are having trouble figuring out how to apply AI tools to their work and lives. I’d like to share some of the ways I’m applying them to my processes to hopefully spark inspiration. I've challenged myself to publish short pieces daily, using this as an opportunity to explore how AI can assist in the workflow. Writing feedback and summaries for sharing have been very helpful. Here is what my approach looks like.

Ongoing idea generation in the Notes app

I keep notes for things I think I might want to write about in the notes app on my phone. Given a thought, I’ll rattle off an outline of what might be interesting or maybe an intro paragraph. Whatever I have the time/inspiration for in that moment. 

Choose daily writing subject with my gut

When I sit down to write with a focus on publishing, I’ll pick up whatever notes or new idea I feel the most engaged with. I’m trying to publish 30 in 30 days with a specific eye to progress rather than perfection. I’ll put fingers to keys and get a first draft as quickly as possible. Once I have a draft, I turn to AI for refinement.

AI feedback on flow, arguments and structure

I’ve created a project in Claude where I’ve given it the instruction that I will share my writing and I want it to give me feedback and make recommendations for improvements. I find the most value in having it as a writing assistant or junior editor. It can effectively suggest ways to make my intro or conclusion punchier or if my anecdotes in the middle are overlong for the point I’m trying to make for example.

I'm cautious about having AI write for me, not out of purism, but because it tends to dilute my voice. However, if I’m writing something like an airbnb review, I don’t care about the voice. I will literally transcribe my stream of consciousness and copy paste the output into the review. I just want to get it done.

AI headline generation is hit and miss

While I generally write my own headlines, I should incorporate a step where I have AI generate 10 options for consideration. Similarly to the voice concern above, when it generates headlines it feels a little too click-bait. Thinking about it here, I really could/should experiment with giving it guidance on tone to get better results. I’ll resolve to do that moving forward.

AI summaries for sharing

After I’ve finished writing, I’ll have Claude generate 140 character “preview” copy that my blog platform uses for SEO and for the index page. When I share the post to social media platforms, sometimes I’ll copy the whole body of the post in there but frequently, the post is longer than their constraints for a post so I’ll have Claude generate a summary I use for the share as well.

AI generated cover images for the post

I use Midjourney to generate a cover image for the post. This is an easy use case because the images are low stakes. Even if the AI generates slight imperfections, like an image with six-fingered hands, it often aligns well with AI-focused content. You can get high quality outputs with more iteration and curation but once again, my focus is output and efficiency rather than perfection.

Hopefully these scenarios can help others identify how they can be more productive. I find a lot of value in getting feedback and pointers as well as summary generation using AI. This is an evolving process as well as technology so practice makes perfect. Or practice makes progress, in my case.

What AI tools have you found helpful in your writing process? Are there areas where you think AI could enhance your productivity?