University of Kwazulu-Natal

The Art Of Writing Why Ai Shouldn T Write Your First Draft

Bonisiwe Shabane
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the art of writing why ai shouldn t write your first draft

Why do some writers use AI to write their first drafts while others refuse to? The difference often lies in how writers perceive their craft and role. If writers view their role as primarily communicating ideas in writing, then having AI write their first drafts is acceptable. However, if writers understand their role as artistic self-expression, then having AI write their first draft is unacceptable. If we view ourselves as primarily document producers, our job is to clearly express ideas in writing. The focus is on function.

An example of this would be technical writing or many nonfiction books. Anything that speeds up the process or improves writing is seen as positive. From this viewpoint, using AI to write a first draft makes sense. You can prompt AI with ideas and let it write the text. After some editing, a finished document can be published in a fraction of the time it would take without AI. Posted August 11, 2025 | Reviewed by Devon Frye

I often think of writing as a fairly straightforward act. For me, it's a process of transfer and organization—a way to get ideas out of my head and onto the page. But fascinating research suggests that how we externalize thought can change the very nature of the thoughts themselves, along with how well we remember them. That got me thinking—and writing. This study, published in Consciousness and Cognition, compared two simple tasks that included writing words by hand and drawing pictures of those words. On the surface, both methods might seem equally effective for learning.

But the researchers found something very interesting: Drawing consistently led to better memory performance than writing. As you might guess, this got me thinking about LLMs and typing into that context window as a central tool to our "thinking" these days. Rekha Thomas, Principal at Path Forward Marketing, advises high-growth companies on GTM strategy and provides fractional CMO services. "AI for first drafts" has rapidly become one of the most frequently touted use cases by marketers for B2B content workflows. Marketers often point to saving time as a value prop of using AI, but this messaging oversimplifies the benefit. After all, not all content serves the same purpose.

With the right inputs (messaging and positioning docs, brand and style guides), AI can quickly generate first drafts of product data sheets, proposals and technical assets to save significant time. Coupling these primary sources with prescriptive prompting about audience and channel empowers marketers to automate content creation at scale. While AI excels at speeding up drafts in these examples, it falls short when content demands originality, nuance and authenticity. Abraham Verghese, author of The Covenant of Water and Cutting for Stone, spoke on the Writing Excuses podcast about the idea of muddling through as part of his creative process, saying: "I think we... You just can't adopt someone else's method and have it work for you. It doesn't always happen that way."

I write daily, often for hours at a time. I’m an author of fiction and nonfiction, and even when I’m not writing something for publication I fill notebooks with ideas and frequently illegible scribbles. I’ve also taught writing for almost two decades, and I understand that not everyone loves writing as much as I do. Yet, even as a lover of writing and a writing teacher, I find the value education places on the ability to write often does more harm than good. This position sometimes gets me into trouble as an English teacher. Of course, we want one of the core skills of our subject to be highly valued, but I will die on this hill: people do not need to love writing or to be highly...

Unfortunately, this approach to holding up writing as the apotheosis of academic performance has led us into a pretty sticky situation with generative artificial intelligence. As of November 2020, any person with an internet connection has access to a sophisticated large language model which can generate cohesive, believable, human-like text. Whether or not you think the output of ChatGPT and co. is actually any good is not the point. The point is a tool now exists, which means anyone can write. Because of the high value placed on writing in both education and society, these technologies have been perceived as a threat.

The way these technologies are being used also reflects the paradigms of that broken system. Rather than finding ways to use these tools creatively, many have simply ended up doing more of the same, more quickly, and with less human input. This is certainly my experience. However, the wiser among us know that writing is more often a wrestling match than a revelation—a process where the first draft, however flawed, is not a failure but a necessary beginning. Jodi Picoult, whose novels have found millions of readers, once observed: “You might not write well every day, but you can always edit a bad page.

You can’t edit a blank page.” And as Michael Korda, the longtime editor, was quoted by Dominick Dunne: “Finish your first draft and then we’ll talk... Even if you write it wrong, write and finish your first draft. Only then, when you have a flawed whole, do you know what you have to fix.” Something I gleaned from Doug Wilson’s Wordsmithy is that the generation of new tools and the death of old workflows should not be the cause of an excess of sorrow.

Many lament the loss of beautiful handwriting and yearn for the days when one would write a substantive letter in one go. But, the skill of nailing your first draft in a letter has been replaced with the twin skills of drafting and editing. This is not necessarily bad. Different tools call for different workflows, and AI as a writing tool means the multiplication of this effect. Drafting is now lightning quick. You can draft a blog post or chapter in mere seconds.

Chances are the draft will be quite bad. Hence the editing. There is a new writing skill by which drafts are made quickly and iterated on quickly. In this approach, that editing step becomes even more important. Just as people mourn the days of hand-written letters in elegant cursive, many will yearn for the days of the word processor. They will refuse to use the new tools because they like their word processor workflow.

Microsoft Word will maintain the same spot in some hearts as grandmother’s elegant calligraphy. And I’m certainly not against reliable workflows or nostalgic memories. I listened to the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast recently and heard an episode with Leon Furze, an educational consultant from Australia who is also the author of the book, Practical AI Strategies, Practical... Furze studies the implications of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) on writing instruction and education. In the episode, Furze references a blog post he wrote a few months ago that challenged the use of GenAI tools like ChatGPT or Microsoft Copilot to help people write first drafts. If you’ve listened to any GenAI company marketing their technology, you’ve probably heard that the tools can help with brainstorming, outlining, and tackling the dreadful “blank page.” GenAI tools, the proponents argue, can offer...

Furze has some concerns with this approach. In his post, Furze outlines a few reasons to “be cautious of the AI first draft.” Furze’s first reason is pretty esoteric but important. Furze worries about capitalism, oppression, and the larger impacts on literacy and expression. He introduces a term called the “computational unconscious” which posits that technology and technology companies have created an invisible infrastructure that impacts human thought, communication, and interaction. It’s heady (and scary) stuff. While I share Furze’s concerns about the “computational unconscious,” I’d prefer to dig into one of his other reasons here.

Furze worries that GenAI can undermine the purpose of writing. He writes: “The purpose of writing isn’t just to demonstrate knowledge in the most expedient way. Writing is to explore knowledge, to connect and synthesize ideas, to create new knowledge, and to share. When students use AI to generate a first draft, they skip 90% of that work, creating something that may well be worth sharing, but which has not in any way helped them form and... This rationale resonates with me on a bunch of levels.

As a writer, I realize how difficult this process is. But I also realize the benefits. In a 2012 blog post, I shared my reasons for writing this blog. I wrote: Artificial intelligence has become a fixture in the academic world. From students crafting term papers to researchers generating article drafts, AI tools like ChatGPT are now common across campuses and institutions.

But with this rapid adoption comes a critical responsibility: using these tools ethically. I’ve seen firsthand how powerful AI can be in streamlining research, clarifying arguments, and generating outlines. But the line between helpful assistance and unethical dependency can get blurry fast. This article breaks down how to use AI responsibly in academic writing, including best practices, common mistakes, and frameworks to guide ethical integration. AI has redefined the research and writing process. Whether it’s summarizing studies on PubMed, generating draft sections for manuscripts, or offering grammar suggestions, tools like ChatGPT help us work faster and more efficiently.

In academic disciplines like nephrology, AI has been used to process massive datasets, accelerate hypothesis formation, and even assist with statistical interpretation. Still, it’s important to remember that AI lacks true understanding. It can hallucinate facts, misrepresent sources, or reflect biases from its training data. That’s why relying solely on it without verification can be dangerous. Let AI help you brainstorm, outline, or refine your writing. But ensure that the core ideas, arguments, and insights remain yours.

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