Where exactly does AI sit in your workflow today?

I use AI like a team of virtual assistants. They support me with research, brainstorming, testing and editing. Gemini is my preferred AI tool because it doesn’t use my data to train its models and I trust Google’s security. When I work with a new client, I explain how I use AI and share my AI Use Policy. They can choose to opt out of AI if they wish.

During the research stage, AI helps me learn about unfamiliar topics and acts as a catalyst for more in-depth research. But fact-checking is a must. That’s why I also do Google searches and check other sources to verify what AI tells me.

AI is the most helpful at the review stage. Once I’ve created a draft and before I send it to the client, I ask AI to review it from different points of view. For example, AI acts as the target reader and identifies what’s missing or could be improved. But I have to remind AI not to rewrite my draft and simply provide me with feedback. That way every piece of content I deliver is created by me.

It sits as glorified search for longer form content: ‘Find me a statistic, from the last year, about XYZ.’ Always followed by me actually going to the source, with mixed results. It’s not achieving anything new, but it’s accelerating a very tedious part of putting those assets together.

AI is not for me. Also: not for plenty of audiences. Which is why I don’t bother with it. There’s no wit, there’s no charm, there’s no heart. Authentic and original copy wins the day every time, so I stick to that.

I’ve been a professional writer for over 20 years and believe in writing from the heart, using creativity and personal experience with empathy and sensitivity. So I don’t use AI to craft “my” words.

The only AI tool I use is Grammarly to double-check my digital copywriting work (not editing or proofreading). And I always take its advice with a pinch of salt, since it lacks knowledge of nuances, regional dialect, and colloquialisms, so its suggestions aren’t always on point.

I know many swear by using AI to speed up ideation and planning, but they’re part of the creative process and I don’t believe in rushing things. It’s lauded for research and SEO keyword analysis too. Again, I like to do this manually as I enjoy immersing in my clients’ worlds, getting to know their competitors and ideal clients. I don’t want to give these important parts of the creation process over to a robot.

AI can be a useful tool for brainstorming, frameworking, and SEO, but it’s not a replacement for creative human copywriting. Which is why brands are turning to real copywriters again – to establish authenticity and make real connections with their target audience.

I use Gemini Notebook to research clients and understand their business. It really comes into its own for making sure I know everything relevant about the client and the brief. I create a new notebook for every job and in there go any documents, URLs and any other research. From there, I interrogate them based on the brief and what else I need to know.

Another feature is the ability to create presentations, podcasts, mindmaps and other representations of the information. I haven’t done this much, but if I do, I think mindmaps will come in useful. Having all the relevant information on display in the one place like this makes writing a lot easier. To avoid paranoia that I have missed something, I will sometimes use one of the other models, usually Claude, for confirmation I have covered everything.

I have separate productivity software, but Gemini Notebook shows clearly what you are, and have been, working on, so invoicing also becomes easier. Other AI programmes in the toolkit include Otter.ai for voice transcription. It’s okay. Like everything produced by AI, you have to review the final product. Google Meet does transcription too, and since I have a Workspace sub, I may ditch Otter the next time it comes up for renewal.