Why I let AI help — but never make the tea
This morning, between mouthfuls of highly buttered scrambled eggs and slurps of brewed coffee, I read an interesting blog titled Let’s Chat About Using AI by Rebecca Cuningham, aka Fake Flamenco. The comments on how scribblers use our new master of the universe were illuminating. It has prompted me to chip in.
I’m new to this blogging malarkey. Just published my first blog three days ago. I like writing about small things and happenings that lead to something funny, interesting or absurd. So, I wasn’t keen on joining the hordes writing about writing about AI. But, now that I am a seasoned blogger the pull has become too much.
I use AI for research. Don’t we all? I try to be specific. Is it possible to BBQ over an open flame on the Shackleton Ridge at the South Pole of the Moon? No, it isn’t, I’m told.
My grammar, punctuation and spelling ain’t so great. Because I’m a stupid human and can’t multi-task I ask AI to do a review of these one at a time.
Review. That’s important. I never ask AI to make changes, only to tell me what changes it thinks are improvements. ‘Would you like a marked-up PDF?’ Yes. Yes, I would.
“Would you like a re-write? A polish. Not a structural change.” No. If you make changes to my manuscript, I’m going to hunt you down and bury a hatchet into your neural network. That usually does the trick.
Let’s talk about images. AI is fantastic at producing images to support my writings. ‘Create an image of a beach bar in Costa Rica with a man in a hammock, a woman at the bar, a big silver moon above and a neon sign saying open.’ Perfect first time. Or maybe I’m easily pleased.
Not sure this is an AI thing but it’s something I do on longer pieces. I find reading my drafts aloud is a good way to hear clumsy sentences, fragments and erratic flow. But reading aloud is tiring. So, I use one of those voice generator apps to read to me. The one I use has a range of accents including several male and female Scottish voices which suits me fine.
The actual writing. I find AI is okay to author standard reports. For example, I volunteer for a charity and using AI to produce standard post project reviews works fine. They are dry, factual and well structured, exactly what is required. In these I’m communicating facts and interpretations, not emotion. It’s like making a chilli con carne without chilli. Or carne.
Away from my volunteer work I’ve experimented using it to produce creative scenes – dialogue, expositions, action, movement, humour – but, unless you want insipid, bland magnolia it’s a waste of my time and a waste of whatever microchips consider a limited resource.
I do worry that readers think that I use AI to generate my writings. I don’t. Not because I’m ethically against it or from any place of prejudice. I don’t use AI for creative writing because that’s the bit I enjoy. I’m Mrs Doyle from Father Ted when she is presented with the gift of an automatic tea maker and takes a knife to it because she likes making tea. If you’re not familiar with Father Ted, then stop what you are doing immediately and look it up.
Finally, to make sure that no-one can mistake my writing as AI generated, I add some stupid jokes, off-the-wall beats, disquieting detours or non sequiturs from the main drag that can only come from an imperfect form of intelligence. That way, I can ensure that my good friend Emily keeps all her canaries in different cages.
@ Copyright 2026 Steve Gillies. All rights reserved.
Steve Gillies 
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