GenAI Democratizes Writing. What Does It Mean for Good Writers?

Sandip Das

Furniture, domestic or otherwise, was made of wood for a very long time. Real wood gives them elegance and a feel of authenticity. Teak, Sheesham, Oak, Walnut, and Mahogany scream “class”. Then came plastic, fiber, and engineered woods, almost in the same order, along with a manufacturing boom that made it extremely cheap to produce anything from a rocking chair to a study desk. Besides, unlike that Mahogany center table that comes with a thousand-dollar price tag, an IKEA alternative is quite affordable. 

Wood alternatives democratized furniture. But could they replace wooden ones as something people aspire to own? The reason you walk into any great hotel and find that finely crafted wooden furniture is probably that quality and elegance cannot be mass-produced. 

Is good writing dead? 

The same is true for AI-generated content. It makes everyone a content warrior until almost every LinkedIn post sounds the same, as if they have been created out of the same mould without much thought. As more and more people spew out em-dash laden sleazy word soup, it takes the fun out of reading. 

It makes everyone a content warrior until almost every LinkedIn post sounds the same, as if they have been created out of the same mould without much thought. As more and more people spew out em-dash laden sleazy word soup, it takes the fun out of reading. 

Of course, AI makes workable writing accessible to everyone, essentially democratizing an art that was once, much like the mahogany center table, a forte of only a few. And yes, all these developments may be quite demoralizing for good writers who spend hours writing and rewriting a piece. The essential question is that if everyone can write, thanks to hundreds of cousins of ChatGPT, why would anyone put some extra effort to learn and practicing good writing? 

Plus, the prospect of seeing their career dwindle thanks to the glut of almost freely-generated content in seconds flooding all the digital spaces from websites to blogs and LinkedIn is not exciting either. So, is good writing a thing of the past, or do writers who are still able to express their inner voice through words have a chance? I, for the sake of optimism and some good evidence, would side with the latter. 

SEO killed the Internet, so will AI-generated content? 

If you remember the last time you searched for “best dog for my 5-year-old puppy” and you were thrown into a sea of SEO-optimized websites screaming for the best solution, you will get it. SEO killed the searching experience, quite literally. The race was to rank higher on Google, arm-twisting people into visiting a site and slamming the door behind them. 

There was no escape because as soon as you stepped into the SEO wonderland, you are sucked into a vortex of sponsored content, affiliate links and an ecosystem that thrives on page visit and clicks. Something had to happen, and it happened. 

The rise of Reddit: Yes, we are hardwired to crave “real” content 

People are searching “best dog food” on Google and then adding reddit as an additional keyword. The reason is that users are showing an increasing preference for user-generated content laced with real human emotion over an SEO-optimized honeytrap! No surprise that over 60% of Americans are now regularly using Reddit as a search engine, according to a survey by Adobe Express. 

The long discussion threads on Reddit apparently serve our needs for “real” human-generated content. This also has something to say about the crazy growth of AI-generated writings. Good writing that comes straight from the gut, that is a reflection of the human subconscious mind in action, has an uncanny ability to connect with readers. 

Much like many of the hybrid vegetables, which look more or less similar to the traditional ones but fail on the “authentic taste part”, AI-produced articles or social media posts have something missing: they don’t quite satisfy, no matter how much you consume!  

Long live good writing 

Like plastic chairs or those made of engineered wood, AI-generated content is easy to supply and flood the market. However, Mahogany would continue to serve human aspiration, the need for “class”, and authenticity. Yes, plastic chairs serve a purpose. It democratizes furniture, making it affordable and accessible to the masses. 

AI-generated content will serve the same purpose: democratizing content and enabling everyone to express their ideas with the help of word-producing machines. But that’s not a death sentence for good writing. Like the mahogany center table, the value of good writing is only going to rise as AI is unlikely to produce what the human heart desires.