Spot the Difference
My writing frequently sounds like a chatbot. I’m okay with that—and readers should be too.
People are rightly concerned about AI slop. But what if my writing already sounds like AI?
And honestly? I’m not sure that's a problem.
Reading my old clips, I can certainly see the resemblance.
It’s true. My writing style for years has taken a straightforward, just-the-facts tone well suited for B2B newsletters, senior executives, and external communications. It’s functional. Nothing fancy. (See, I’m doing it as we speak!)
I’ve seen the criticisms, with people breathlessly pointing out how they can spot AI slop a mile away. They see that authoritative voice in the writing, the slightly breathless style, the bullet points and boldface, and they shout, “J’accuse!” Or, in this case, “J’AI-ccuse!”
Did you catch that painfully unfunny pun? And the historical reference? I used to include puns and showy allusions all the time in my writing. On a few occasions when the subject matter wasn’t particularly heavy the attempts at humor and levity were fine. But as my career transitioned from sports writing—the ultimate playground of witticisms and light writing—to covering Congress and then working for publicly traded companies, the funny stuff needed to go away.
I vividly recall learning about business writing and reporting the hard way as a fledgling B2B newsletter editor. I would diligently report a story, write a draft, and then watch, crestfallen, as my editor struck the first paragraph. Every time. I can still hear him asking me, “What’s the most important information in your article? What’s new to the story?” And I would tell him. And he would respond, “Then put it up top in the lede!”
And that, folks, is how I came to be a human predecessor to AI writing. Just about everything I’ve written for public consumption is in that straightforward style, with just a bit of an urgent tone or newsy feel to signal the importance of the writing to readers.
Why write it any different? In an age where billions of new content are created every day, from articles to press releases, social media posts to videos, the most important thing any writer can do is respect their reader’s time. It’s the BLUF method—bottom line up front—that is most often seen in military communications. Tell readers in the first sentence what’s important and why they should care. If they do care they’ll keep on reading. If they don’t care that’s their right.
What writers, especially corporate communicators, should never do is waste readers’ time. It’s disrespectful. “Hang with me for a few paragraphs while I write a few cliches and dumb jokes, and then I’ll hit you with the good stuff,” is not a recipe for getting your article read.
So I will keep the historical references to a minimum, the literary allusions will disappear, and the puns will be saved for home—much to the dismay of my family.
The lesson for corporate communicators is this: If your writing sounds like AI, maybe that’s because you were already doing what AI was trained to do—communicate clearly.
That’s not slop. That’s the job.
Three Great Links to Share With Your Boss and Team
Sometimes AI slop is easy to spot. Sometimes it isn’t:
Who wrote it better? Take the New York Times quiz and see if you prefer AI writing to famous authors. I actually preferred two of the five human authors—naturally they are two of my favorite writers so even though I did not recognize the specific passages I think some part of me recognized their style. Bottom line: The AI writing is not quite as artful as the human authors, but at least one of the human quotes read a little clunky to me.
Nobel Prize-winning economist rips off my AI take! Okay, so maybe Daron Acemoglu didn’t read my recent article about how AI could make us all dumb. But he has co-authored a new paper about the topic: “[W]hile agentic AI can improve contemporaneous decision quality, it can also erode learning incentives that sustain long-run collective knowledge… and the economy can tip into a knowledge-collapse steady state in which general knowledge vanishes ultimately, despite high-quality personalized advice.” Basically, is AI making us lazy and stupid? Fun fact: I interviewed Acemoglu years ago when he was promoting his great book, “Why Nations Fail,” which I highly recommend. And if AI is making all of us write—and think—the same way, maybe the real slop isn’t the style. It’s the substance.
Thank you for reading,
Ira Apfel