Someone once told me that trying to humanize ChatGPT is like trying to apply lipstick on a pig. It sounds fun, but at the end of the day, it’s still a pig. At that moment, I felt they were hating or simply riding that wave of “AI is evil.” While the lipstick on a pig analogy is pretty dramatic, there’s some truth to it. Now, I’m not here to say that ChatGPT can’t help you write an article, it will do more than that, but it sure isn’t going to win any writing awards on its own. Sure, it can spit out paragraphs faster than you can imagine, but that doesn’t mean it’s perfect. As someone that has been using it for a while, I slowly begun noticing a pattern of several glaring mistakes you’ll want to avoid when letting this AI do some of the heavy lifting.
1. Ignoring Your Own Voice
Here is the thing with AI, it strives too hard for perfection. So much so that, it becomes repetitive. It’s tempting to let ChatGPT take over the writing but don’t forget that you’re the one with the unique voice, not a robot with access to millions of Wikipedia articles. who wants to be perfect anyway? While AI can craft a solid first draft, it’s important to inject your personal style into the final piece. Because otherwise you might end up with a soulless piece that sounds like it was written by an over-caffeinated encyclopedia.
In other words always Edit and customize the content to match your tone and personality. After ChatGPT generates the first draft, go in and spice it up. That human touch everyone keeps talking about when AI is brought up, that one. Make sure the tone matches your style of dry humor, sarcasm, or just a dash of irony.
2. Relying purely on ChatGPT for Research
I feel like ChatGPT is one of the greatest assistants ever introduced to man, but let’s not kid ourselves, it still has a long way to go when it comes to professional research. It can pull from a massive pool of information, but just like that one guy at the party who “knows a guy” for everything, not all of the info it provides is 100% reliable. I remember doing research for a certain topic i was to write on and ChatGPT gave me a quote from a famous person. when I asked it to guide me to where exactly this person said that, it asked me (in not so many words) “where exactly did I say that? I laughed for a good minute.
What i am saying is, whatever AI tells you is not the gospel truth. AI can give you solid information but it doesn’t fact-check or understand context the way a real human does. So don’t just copy-paste those “facts” without a second glance. Look them up.
3. Vague Instructions
ChatGPT is like that friend who’s great at following directions but also needs the directions to be specific. Or that friend that gives you directions that sound very good but you still can’t decipher where they are directing you to. If you ask it to “write an article about the future of technology,” you might end up with a generic piece about flying cars and virtual reality. Make sure your prompt is super detailed and focused for better results.
Be specific. If you Want to focus on AI Narrow down your instructions to the T. “Write an article about how artificial intelligence will impact healthcare by 2030,” for example.
4. Overloading ChatGPT with Complex Instructions
I am so guilty of this. It’s easy to fall into the trap of giving ChatGPT a laundry list of requirements. So you Want a perfectly structured article with a humorous tone, SEO optimization, citations in every subheading, catchy subheadings, links to the citations and three different types of God knows what….. It might will start panicking and give you something that looks like it was written under duress.
If you want the type of feedback that will leave you satisfied, break down your instructions into manageable chunks. You can always refine it later and better still get better editing even by AI when its section by section.
5. Neglecting to Edit for Coherence
Most of you using AI already know this but, here’s a little secret: ChatGPT isn’t a miracle worker. It can produce decent drafts but it doesn’t always ensure everything flows as smoothly as you’d like. Sometimes, sentences can come out sounding like a confused crossword puzzle—informative but oddly arranged.
The worst mistake you can make as a writer is accepting the output as final without reviewing for coherence or flow. Read through the article. Tweak sentences, rearrange paragraphs and make sure it’s readable. If you yourself are struggling to read, imagine what your audience will be going through. Not fun for real.
6. Excessive use of AI for Creativity…
ChatGPT can be an excellent tool for brainstorming ideas or creating outlines. But it has often been accused of being too robotic. lifeless, or so they say. As a creative writer myself, I get it. I really do. And AI can turn out to be a creative writer’s worst enemy, as it lacks that human spark. Ever seen a writer being accused of using it, while they honestly did not? maybe it was because their creative juices were low on that day. If you rely on it too much for creative writing, you might end up with something that feels more like a generic template than a fresh take. AI is great at mimicking but it’s not going to surprise you with a plot twist.
Use ChatGPT for brainstorming, but don’t let it replace your own creativity. Yes it can be a helpful partner, but never the lead singer in your band.
7. Forgetting About SEO
Someone on twitter asked the gender of ChatGPT. According to them, we all know Siri and other apps gender, bur really, what is chatgpt”s gender? I feel like the way AI can write you a really mind-blowing article one minute on a research you are doing and a completely lackluster one the next minute makes it female. You know; mood swings.
ChatGPT can help you write articles fast, but it might forget to sprinkle in the SEO magic your website needs. It might generate great content but if it’s not optimized for search engines, your article might be as invisible as a cat in a blackout.
Make sure to integrate relevant keywords, meta descriptions and engaging headlines. Because one minute it’s including SEO’s, the next there isn’t none added. ChatGPT can help with this too, but you’ll need to guide it.
8. Not Adding Your Personal Insights
At the end of the day, readers don’t just want to know what is happening, they also need to understand why it matters. ChatGPT can give you all the facts but it can’t provide your unique perspective or personal insights. Your opinions, humor and analysis are what make your writing stand out. Remember AI hasn’t lived, experienced or felt. it doesn’t get to have dreams. This in turn results in shallow content. The secret is in editing and trying to humanize its content to avoid your articles coming off as robotic or too structured.
In conclusion, ChatGPT can be a great co-writer but it’s not a magic bullet that will replace your creativity or critical thinking. Think of it as your trusty sidekick, not your hero. By avoiding these common mistakes, you can use AI to your advantage without letting it run the show.
Now, go ahead—write that masterpiece. Just don’t blame me if you end up asking ChatGPT for relationship advice. You’re on your own there.
