AI vs. Authenticity
Thoughts on AI and the pressure for creatives to keep up
Let me set the tone of this post with a story about someone I follow on Substack.
Side note: I’m using they/them pronouns intentionally to obfuscate their gender. The purpose of this post isn’t to call anyone out, but to bring attention to the broader topic.
I initially followed them on social media and subscribed to their newsletter here because I’ve always appreciated their perspective.
While reading one of their recent newsletters through my email, I discovered a space in the middle of their essay where they very obviously copied and pasted from ChatGPT. They accidentally included the answer to their prompt before the paragraph, saying something like, “Sure—here’s a powerful, fact-based summary of your article.”
A quick scan of the article revealed that it was riddled with em-dashes, which GenZ apparently calls the “ChatGPT Hyphen” for how often it’s used in AI writing.
My first reaction was to giggle and move on. After all, I know nothing about how this person uses ChatGPT. They could use it to regularly produce entire articles, construct coherent thoughts out of word vomit, or neatly sum up their original thoughts on days when they just can’t even. AI writing assistance might make more sense for the type of content they produce (i.e. political commentary and current events).
The joy and pride I take in meticulously crafting each sentence is not for everyone, and it’s totally fair for people to lean into their strengths and zone of genius. Work smarter, not harder. I get that, and even respect it. I used ChatGPT to create an initial logo for this publication, because I’m a low/no budget operation over here.
But still, something about it irked me. This person has over 2k subscribers, though I’m not sure how much of that is growth on Substack vs. an existing social media audience. They also churn out multiple posts per week, and my silly self wondered how the hell they were doing it. Well, mystery solved.
Meanwhile I’m just trying to publish 2-3 posts per month while working a full-time job. I’m still manually writing and editing every word, like a crazy person.
This isn’t about comparing perceived success vs. effort. The bigger question is how much pressure this puts on creatives who might not be able to sustain such a vigorous posting schedule. It made me wonder how best to grow my presence here while possibly unwittingly competing with robots for more visibility.
While there’s some opportunity for slow, organic growth here, the sad truth is that posts tend to get more exposure if there’s a consistent posting schedule. Notes remains one of the top ways to gain new subscribers. It’s hard out here for scrappy little creatives, and that can easily lead to disenchantment and burnout. Doesn’t that seem familiar? To me, it sounds exactly like what creators were trying to escape when they left social media for Substack’s supposed safe haven.
Contrary to popular hustle culture wisdom, we don’t all have the same 24 hours. Some people have teams to support them and the ability to make their own schedule. It’s understandable that not everyone’s output is not going to match those who have more support or flexibility.
Awareness of these dynamics, as well as AI’s contributing role, might be the very thing that helps us to give ourselves grace and keep showing up as exactly who we are. We’re human, so of course there’s going to be occasional typos and run-on sentences. Of course we’re not going to be churning out a new post every day without some help, AI or otherwise. Of course we need to rest sometimes.
As much as I hate to say it, when it’s obvious that ChatGPT is more than a little involved in someone’s content, I lose interest. Fast. If I wanted to hear what ChatGPT had to say on a certain topic, I’d ask her myself.
There’s gold in the unfiltered realness. Our original thoughts and authentic selves are what make us magnetic. Creativity isn’t a formula calculated with an algorithm. It’s the alchemy of our inspiration and imperfection. It’s the unexpected wisdom that spills onto the page as you process (or channel) thoughts you never knew you had. It’s knowing that maybe not everything you write is going to be a hit, but it doesn’t stop you from showing up anyway. It’s making something for the joy of it, without always understanding where it will lead or how it will contribute to your bottom line.
At the end of the day, I love writing, and I’m proud of what I’ve built here. I’d like this space to be a reprieve from the hustle, a place to explore curiosities and the randomness of life. Sometimes I wonder if anyone is out there, but then I get an unexpected like, comment, or a kind word in person from someone who says they enjoy what I write. It truly means the world.
Bottom line? Keep sharing your magic. The world needs it.