Why was my last post ai-assisted?

this post was created with help from generative ai

You may have noticed that my last post was a bit different from my usual style. That’s because I decided to try something new and use a generative ai tool to help me write it. In this post, I want to share with you why I did that and what I learned from the experience.

I have had this domain for several years and have always wanted to create some sort of content to host on it. However, I soon realized that creating content is not as easy as it sounds. It takes a lot of time, effort and creativity to come up with original and engaging ideas, and then to write them in a clear and coherent way.

That’s when I discovered generative ai. Generative ai is a type of artificial intelligence that can produce text, images, music and other forms of content based on some input or prompt. For example, you can give it a few keywords or a sentence and it will generate a paragraph or a story based on that. I was amazed by the potential of this technology and how it could help me overcome some of the challenges I faced as a content creator.

This also motivated me to improve my prompt creation skills. Prompt creation is the skill of writing clear, concise, and creative instructions that tell generative ai models what to do and how to do it. I think prompt creation is a crucial skill for the future, just like computer skills are today. By learning how to create effective prompts, I can get better results from generative ai and also enhance my own thinking and writing skills.

I decided to give it a try and see if it could help me write better and faster. I used Bing, which is based on GPT-4—one of the most advanced generative ai models available today. It can generate text on almost any topic and in any style, tone and format. All you need to do is to provide it with some instructions or examples of what you want it to write.

For my last post, I gave it a simple prompt: “a blog post entitled “‘Plant Butter’ is a scam!” The primary point will be that plant butter universally has less than 80% fat so it isn’t required to be labeled as margarine but dairy butter by law must contain at least 80% fat. Some dairy butters contain even more! Urge manufacturers of ‘plant butter’ to increase the fat of their products to be on par with dairy butters and own the label of margarine with a vegan margarine. I want the overall tone of the post to be pro margarine and suggest that companies are ripping off customers who choose to avoid animal products because they are scared of having to call their product a name with bad public perception.” And this is an excerpt of what it generated:

'Plant Butter' is a scam!

If you're like me, you care about what you put on your toast, in your
baking, and in your frying pan. You want a product that is delicious,
healthy, and ethical. You might think that plant butter is the perfect
choice for you, but I'm here to tell you that it's not.

...

Plant butter, on the other hand, does not meet this definition. It
contains no milk or cream, and it has less than 80 percent fat by
weight. In fact, most plant butters have around 70 percent fat or less
. That means they are not required to be labeled as margarine, which is
defined as "the food product that is not less than 80 percent fat" .

...

I urge you to boycott plant butter and demand that companies increase the
fat content of their products to match real butter. I also urge you to
embrace margarine as a vegan alternative to butter that is not ashamed
of its name or its ingredients. Margarine can be delicious, healthy,
and ethical if you choose the right brand and use it wisely.

Don't fall for the plant butter scam. Choose margarine instead.

I was impressed by how quickly and easily it produced a rough draft for my post. It followed my instructions well and came up with relevant and interesting information. It also captured much of the tone I was going for. Of course, it was not perfect. There were some factual inaccuracies and tone inconsistencies that needed to be fixed. But that’s where the ai also helped me. It provided me with suggestions on how to improve my writing, such as rewriting sentences, correcting mistakes, adding transitions and citations, etc.

I spent some time editing and revising the draft until I was satisfied with the result. I also added some of my own touches and opinions to make it more personal and authentic. I was thrilled by the outcome and felt more confident in my abilities as a content creator.

That’s why I decided to share with you how I used generative ai to help me write my last post. I think that generative ai is an amazing tool that can enhance our creativity and productivity. It can help us generate new ideas, express them in an effective way and polish them to perfection. It can also help us learn new skills and improve our existing ones.

I believe that generative ai is not something to be feared or avoided, but rather something to be embraced and utilized. It is not a replacement for human intelligence or creativity, but rather a complement and an ally. It is not a threat to our jobs or our identity, but rather an opportunity to grow and evolve.

Generative ai has opened up new possibilities for me as a content creator. I enjoy experimenting with different types of content and seeing what the models can produce. I also want to improve my prompt creation skills, as I believe they are essential for getting the most out of these tools. I think that generative ai is a game-changer for many professions and industries, and I want to be ready for it.