In my recent blogging course, I abandoned my carefully-prepared lesson, or part pf it, threw caution to the winds, and suggested to the class that we experiment with using AI for writing blog posts. Here’s a partial blog post it came up with, which you will agree is utter rubbish:

Blogging provides a platform for individuals to share their thoughts, expertise, and experiences with a potentially vast audience. It offers a way to express creativity, build a personal brand, and connect with like-minded people across the globe. Additionally, blogging can serve as a valuable tool for businesses to attract customers, showcase their products or services, and establish themselves as industry leaders. Overall, the benefits of blogging include increased visibility, improved writing skills, and the opportunity to generate income through various monetization strategies.

So does this mean that using AI for blogging is to be avoided? Well, I asked the course particpants to come up with several tasks, such as creating audience (reader) personas (that is, who is your intended reader, how old are they, which newspapers do they read, what car do they drive etc), topic lists and blog post outlines, coming up with a headline, and then writing the first paragraph of the would-be blog post. Then we asked a few AI apps to do the same.

I was delighted to see that the students felt confident that they would be able to tell which tasks, especially the personas and, of course, the blog posts, were created by AI. However, AI, we decided, still had a role to play. Indeed, very much so.

Take the personas, forn example. The first time I created a persona it took me half an hour. An AI app can bash three out in about 30 seconds. You can then pick and choose which bits you’d like to use, and then create your own ideal persona — but with the grunt work done for you.

Similarly with the blog post ideas. For example, I asked perplexity.ai to come up with a list of blog post ideas for people who like reading good personal essays. Here is what it came up with:

Here's a list of engaging topics for a blog focused on personal essays:

1. The Art of Vulnerability: How Sharing Our Stories Connects Us

2. Finding Your Voice: Techniques for Authentic Writing

3. Everyday Epiphanies: Turning Mundane Moments into Meaningful Essays

4. The Power of Place: How Settings Shape Our Personal Narratives

5. Family Ties: Exploring Relationships Through Personal Essays

6. Embracing Imperfection: Essays on Growth and Self-Acceptance

7. Cultural Identity: Navigating Multiple Worlds in Personal Writing

8. The Healing Power of Words: Using Essays for Self-Discovery

9. Time Capsules: Capturing Eras Through Personal Experiences

10. Humor in Hardship: Finding Laughter in Life's Challenges

11. Sensory Storytelling: Bringing Essays to Life Through the Five Senses

12. Turning Points: Essays on Life-Changing Decisions and Moments

13. The Personal is Political: Essays on Social Issues and Individual Impact

14. Nature as a Mirror: Reflections on the Natural World and the Self

15. Unsung Heroes: Essays Celebrating Everyday Inspirations

16. The Art of the Personal Essay: Analyzing Techniques of Master Writers

17. Digital Age Dilemmas: Personal Essays on Technology and Human Connection

18. Food Memories: Exploring Culture and Identity Through Culinary Experiences

19. Travel Tales: How Journeys Shape Our Perspectives and Stories

20. Intergenerational Narratives: Bridging Past and Present Through Personal Essays

These topics offer a mix of craft-focused content, thematic ideas, and explorations of various aspects of life that often make for compelling personal essays. They should appeal to readers who appreciate depth, authenticity, and the artistry of well-crafted personal narratives.

To be honest, I don’t much like any of them. However, if I was pushed I think I could do something with three or four of them as a start.

The writing of blog posts is in a different league though. If all you do is report on sports fixtures or othjer stats, with no commentary, then yoiu might as well use AI and save yourself a load of time. But until we can obtain personal AI bots trained on our own voice, I think using AI is a non-starter. And if you were to use an AI bot that is so good the result is indistinguishable from what you would write yourself, you could certainly save a lot of time. But you’d miss out on many of the personal benefits of blogging. Moreover, it would, in my opinion, be profundly dishonest.

If you’re interested, I’m teaching the blogging course again in November. In January, I’ll be teaching a course called The 60 Minute Writer.