When it comes to adopting technology, I am always the last to jump on the bandwagon. When my mom and I switched from a flip phone with no internet to a smart phone in 2019, my mom got her first smart phone months before I did. Well, that was mostly because my prepaid phone plan hadn’t yet expired. Even when it did expired, somehow, my mom made me wait a whole extra month even though I was paying for my own phone.
Lately, it’s AI – artificial intelligence.
Once again, my mom has jumped on the bandwagon months ago when I was still reading every relevant article in the search engine. Instead of asking me questions I don’t know the answer to, she started to ask ChatGPT.
I tried AI and didn’t really like it. I still prefer the old-fashion way of getting the information I need. I think the reason being I don’t ever know what to ask it. I suck at commenting and asking questions, in case you don’t know, because growing up, if I pose questions to those around me aka my mom, she will either tell me to shut up, ignore me, or react in a bad way. If I want to know anything, I will usually look it up using a search engine.
Last week, I decide to give AI a real try. I say “a real try” because before then, I just asked simple questions like “what’s my zodiac sign,” or “how much can I put in my 401k for 2026.” I never really “talked” to it, it’s always been a Q & A type of thing. The only other times I used AI is either when I need it to generate an image for my story or write a 50 word excerpt for my posts because I suck at summarizing things, too.
Anyway, last week, I decided to tell Google Gemini to read a draft of my story and tell me what it thought. It praised my story but also gave me a few pointers for improvement. In the past, I would’ve ignored it but this time, I decided to give the pointers some thought.
We went back and fourth like a conversation. I would revise a paragraph, copied and pasted into the conversation to have AI read it. We went paragraph by paragraph until we were satisfied. In the end, I even let it give me a list of titles for the story and I chose “The Long Way Home” as the title.
Honestly, I thought it was a lengthy process. It was like sitting down with a nice copy-editor that will offer praises and critique on your work without the baggage of human emotion. It gave me clarity of what AI is capable of but reading the examples AI offered, I would never ask it to write any of my stories because it lacks the touch that comes from being human.
That’s not to say I won’t use it again. I liked how the story turned out and it gave me a chance to learn about my writing like areas of improvement and what I’m doing right. I hope you don’t think less about the story even though I did write every word. I also enjoyed the conversation with someone who doesn’t “react” as opposed to having a conversation with someone like my aunt or my mom who over-react to every word I say.
This is Another Story 
I think AI is something we can’t avoid, and we shouldn’t try. I think the best approach is to use it when and where it can help us, but let us be the judge.
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I agree that it’s something we can’t avoid but I think we all should try it at least once so we, as individuals, can judge whether it’s a tool we can use.
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Welcome aboard 🙂
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No judgement at all. 🌹🌹
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Loved this honest reflection on using AI in improving writing. Your comparison of AI to a calm copy-editor without emotional baggage really stands out.
Good to know that you kept your human voice while using tools like Google Gemini or ChatGPT for guidance, not replacement. That balance feels wise and relatable. Growth without losing authenticity is the real win here.
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Thank you.
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“A copy editor without the baggage of human emotion” — that’s actually one of the most honest descriptions of what AI is useful for that I’ve read.
The distinction you landed on naturally is the right one. AI as a thinking partner for your own work is fundamentally different from AI replacing the work. You wrote every word. It just helped you see them more clearly.
That’s exactly how it should be used.
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Sometimes, unbiased guidance and hints is all we need.
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The stories I’ve read written by AI all read very similar.
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I agree, I read a couple and they read more like a summary than a story.
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Very true
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AI is powerful in different cases, like having a smart friend you can rely on for some opinions to improve your work.
My employer has started exploring AI, and now we are required to incorporate it into our work. It is really something we can’t avoid in this growing digital era.
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I like your description of AI – “a smart friend you can rely on for some opinions”. I wouldn’t say I can rely on AI though, I would say, until proven right, give AI’s words the benefit of the doubt.
Wow, I wouldn’t know how to incorporate into my work other than just on a project basis but it’s definitely not an everyday thing.
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Thank you, it’s like a smart friend who gives opinions, and I will still do the work around. But since it’s upgrading, I can now connect it to different apps as well.
We have different opinions about AI, and it’s ok. I can’t rely on using AI directly with my work; I started to use it when I attended a workshop, and I’m ok with that as long as it does the job, like connecting my notes to Notion without me doing it manually and automatically adding my agendas to all of my calendars.
I usually use different note apps for different purposes, and Notion to centralize them all.
AI is not perfect, and in work, human touch is still needed and ideal. ♥️
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That’s great to hear how AI has helped you.
Ah, taking notes, you made me think back to my school days. AI would’ve been very handy as I am a horrible note-taker.
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