The Digital Shift in Technical Writing: Before and After AI

Olajide Blessing Niniola
3 min readSep 15, 2023

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Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash

The integration of AI into content creation is so pervasive that if you’re not using even a hint of it, you might be channeling your inner Shakespeare. AI’s prominence in modern writing is undeniable, but what does it really say about the writer? Here’s a glance at the landscape of technical writing, both before and after AI.

Endless Writer’s Block:

  • Before AI
    Every content creator has faced the dreaded writer’s block. It’s a frustrating experience, often stemming from or leading to feelings of burnout and even imposter syndrome.
  • After AI
    AI offers a buffer. Before hitting a block, writers can produce numerous articles, stockpiling drafts. When writer’s block does strike, there’s no need to leave an audience waiting since drafts are ready for publication.

Structuring and editing articles

  • Before AI
    The editing phase could sometimes exceed the actual writing time, which can be incredibly vexing. It’s challenging to explain that while an article is written, it’s not entirely ready.
  • After AI
    AI tools can quickly suggest the right words and structures, becoming invaluable time savers. This efficiency ensures consistent, high-quality output, which can in turn result in a streamlined editing process.

Research Overload:

  • Before AI
    Technical writers particularly spent immense amounts of time diving deep into research, opening links and links, comparing and contrasting contradictions, and ensuring they didn’t miss any critical data, which often led to information overload and consequent delays.
  • After AI
    AI algorithms can sift through vast amounts of data in seconds, pulling out relevant information and presenting writers with the most pertinent facts, thus making the research process more streamlined. Side note; a little advice, sometimes AI might not have up-to-date data, and you might be required to do ground research so you don’t put out articles that do not serve the intended audience.

Correction in Grammatical Errors

  • Before AI
    Ever had a hard time spotting small mistakes? This could be punctuation or commonly misspelt words. Mistakes like this might make your article come off to your audience as not good enough and even hard to read if they are not properly punctuated.
  • After AI
    With AI, writing is made easy by its impeccable ability to identify and correct grammar errors. Not only does it detect common mistakes, but advanced AI tools also offer suggestions to enhance the overall readability and clarity of the content for the intended audience.

However, it’s essential to note the undercurrents of the AI discourse; critics often highlight potential pitfalls, such as a diminished creative flair. Also, excessive reliance on AI might produce homogenized content, completely diminishing the writer’s own voice. Yet, for writers who balance AI’s efficiency with their unique flair and depth, the prospects are bright. The harmonious amalgamation of human intuition with AI’s precision seems to be the promising future of technical writing.

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