Why AI Isn't Taking My Job (It's Just Cleaning My Desk)

My Dear Readers,

My panic button gets hit every time a new AI model drops. About 2 years ago, I wrote an article about how AI (Artificial Intelligence) can cure writer's block. But, between you and me, I was actually trying to keep my blood pressure down, rather than thinking that AI meant that "writers are doomed!" AI tools are evolving, and they are amazing. Full Stop. However, here’s what I’ve been observing: AI is a phenomenal tool for generating volume, but a terrible one for generating soul. At the same time, it can be brilliant at creating first drafts, summarizing data, and churning out five different meta-descriptions. It excels at the mechanical, time-consuming tasks that used to be my Monday morning drudgery.

In my world of e-commerce and content management, AI is my assistant, not my replacement. It handles the initial heavy lifting, but it can’t replace strategic insight. It doesn't know the difference between a compliant product description (a critical skill in my Amazon work) and a risky one. It can’t deliver the specific, quirky brand voice I spent months cultivating. Most importantly, it can't tell the difference between "technically correct" and "compellingly human." Even more importantly - it's wrong, a lot, and convincingly so.

In a nutshell, my job has simply shifted. I’m spending less time generating words and more time acting as an editor, strategist, and quality control expert. As a human writer, I define my my value by the ability to inject empathy, expertise, and nuanced context - things a large language model can only imitate, not truly possess. So, yes, AI has changed the game, but for human content specialists, it just means we get to focus on the fun part.

Let's not fight it, let's embrace it, knowing it's power, capabilities and its fallibilities.

Lisa