Nows and Forevers

I work with editors every day. I have ever since I started my career as a journalist. But the past two days, I’ve been testing out a generative AI on this blog. It’s been … interesting.

Do you write with an “ideal reader” in mind? I do. Just about everything I write, it’s with that very special reader in mind. That’s a whole other story.

And I can tell you I don’t write to please editors, although I think I’ve been able to internalize some of the advice of my best editors and coaches. I appreciate being edited and there’s very little beyond writing itself than I like better than talking about story and narrative. I’ve done that as a writer. I’ve done that as an editor. I like to think I’m pretty good at both, even though my job has exclusively been as a writer for the past decade or so.

I’ve run two blog posts past the site’s AI editor. I wasn’t impressed with the first time, which I wrote about yesterday. Then I put that post through the AI editor. I don’t think it’s useful at the moment. Maybe some day it will.

Here’s what the AI responded within a few seconds:

The blog post discusses the author’s experience with AI editing and the potential for generative AI to transform the editing process. The post also touches upon the author’s relationship with editors throughout their journalism career. Here is some feedback on the content:

• The content is engaging and highlights the author’s personal perspective on AI editing and their appreciation for human editors.
• The inclusion of personal anecdotes adds a personal touch to the post.

Overall, the content effectively conveys the author’s thoughts on AI editing, but here are a few suggestions to enhance it.

The post goes on to provide some suggestions on the original post, about sriracha, that I included in yesterday’s post. I don’t think the AI editor got the reason why I repeated the content. That’s OK. I had a human editor tell me today that she didn’t understand one of my sentences in a 2,500-word piece.

You know what? She was right.

After the AI made a few suggestions, it provided something else, which amplified what I had written in yesterday’s post:

While these suggestions could improve the content, it is important to remember that blog posts sometimes have a quick and informal nature. Therefore, incorporating these suggestions will depend on the structure and purpose of the post.

My point exactly.

But I did enjoy hearing that the content was “engaging” and “effectively conveys the author’s thoughts on AI editing.”

Thanks, AI Editor!

Has anyone else experimented with the AI editing?