As I’ve been looking for new opportunities and deciding what’s next for me, I’ve been pumping out proposals and filling out applications. There’s a bit of excitement and hope in all of these. But we won’t talk about how often that excitement and hope gets crushed. On the bright side, it’s giving me a lot of insight into where companies are with AI.

Some are all in on AI and want to see you use it for every little thing. Others have big bold letters saying, “If you use AI, your application will be invalidated.” Both ends of the spectrum make me a little nervous.

Look, I’m worried about the environment, as well as artists’ rights. So I’m not going to ever go crazy with AI. I will use it sparingly and in moments where it makes sense. But I’m not going to use it for every single thing where a human mind might be the better option.

But while I’m careful about my usage, it doesn’t mean that I abandon it willy nilly. There are times that it helps me, while also not infringing on artists’ rights (although there’s not much I can do for the environment here). And at those times, I think it’s worth dipping in.

Let’s take a look at those cases.

AI & content ideation

There is nothing more useless than me sitting at a computer staring at a blank screen. Whether it’s ten minutes or hours, it’s wasted time. And when every minute matters, I don’t want to waste any time.

So this is where AI has come in handy the most for me. I put in some targeted keywords or the audience I’m targeting along with the kind of content I’m creating for some very rough draft ideas. Nine times out of ten I don’t use any of the ideas. After all, this is giving me a copy of what other people have done for these same keywords or audience. It wouldn’t be effective unless I really have something innovative to bring to the topic. So I use this mostly to get my brain thinking about what I should be doing rather than staring at a blank screen.

Why does it work? I have no idea. But having something on that screen, even if it’s a bad fit, immediately gets me thinking about what would be a good fit. And I’m able to get there and execute. I think, for me, it takes the place of a brainstorming session. Instead of needing a group of people, I can do it with a few quick keystrokes.

But keep in mind that it does require the research work ahead of time. I need to know my client’s keywords and their targeted audience to even get started with content ideation on AI. And I do that research without the aid of AI (well, it’s everywhere right now, so I wouldn’t be shocked if it’s in the tools I use in a totally ineffective way).

Optimizing content

Any grammar mistakes? AI is in just about every word processing software out there picking them up. Even if I didn’t want to use it, I am almost forced to. Thank God I’m all about this kind of help.

Not sure when to post your content? AI will tell you the best times. Of course I take this with a grain of salt. Since a lot of people use this information, that means a lot of people are posting at the exact same time. Do you know what happens when a lot of people post at the exact same time? No one’s message gets through. So yes, I use these times, but then I throw in other times to see if they do a little better. It’s all about continual informed experiments.

And there are a number of other areas that I use to make sure that I’m putting together the best content and releasing it in the best way. Once again, it’s just me. Having another set of eyes, albeit virtual eyes, helps me catch mistakes before they happen. In a world where people LOVE to catch your missteps, that little bit is invaluable.

Preventing writer’s block

For the most part, the above usage of AI is more than enough for me. I don’t want to get into a place where I’m using other people’s work to make content and then call it my own. It opens up clients to legal issues, and I do my best to prevent that.

With that said, I sometimes get stuck on a piece of content. It’s not coming together the way I want or I just don’t know where to go with it next. And yes, I do call AI in when this happens. Thankfully I’m creative enough that I rarely have to make this call.

But when I do make it, I’m very careful with how I do it. I really only have AI make outlines for me. Anything else would be too tempting to use. I’m so careful that I won’t even give myself the chance to do the wrong thing. And like with the content ideation process, it’s rare that I actually use what AI gives me back. It’s usually enough to get me over the writer’s block hump and back into the creating process. The few times I have used any part of an outline is when I know I can bring something different to the idea it is giving me.

I’m still learning AI

Like all of us, I’m still in the learning phase of AI. I’m not using it perfectly, but I’m happy with what I am using it for as of right now. I expect it to grow and change as AI addresses the issues it has at the moment and continues to grow and chance itself. If one thing is certain, AI is not static. And I don’t consider how I will use it to be static either. I’m cautious but excited to see what happens next.

How are you using AI to help your work?