Write to a friend, or an LLM

Information Architects (iA)—the studio that makes iA Writer—published a write-up on Writing with AI in November 2023.

From that post, I took away a prompt to use large language models (LLMs) for writing with their help. We can use AI as a dialogue partner instead of a ghostwriter in a clever inversion of the prompting role. "As writers we can not allow AI to replace our own thinking. We should use it to simulate the thinking of a missing dialogue partner."

Here's the prompt I've been experimenting with in some of my writing.

Ask me questions about my article on [topic]. One at a time. Begin with the most important one and go on until I tell you to stop.

This text prompt instructs the AI to ask you questions, prompting you to write to answer and clarify key questions about the topic you've told it to write about.

I often feed it my writing draft to give it context about the topic I'm writing about.

Ask me questions about my article on [topic]. One at a time. Begin with the most important one until I tell you to stop. Below is my writing draft.

[Writing draft.]

I've often struggled to sit down and write about a topic, only to find that messaging with a friend over email or WhatsApp triggers a writing spree with practical details and ideas to develop the topic.

While a little sad in principle, chatting with an LLM instead of messaging with a friend is a practical way to get you going articulating your ideas.

This technique reminds me of the rubber duck debugging technique, in which software developers explain their code to a yellow rubber duck in hopes that this will help them clarify their problem and find a solution.

Workflows like this one are a great way to use AI systems to help you write and clarify your thinking instead of writing for you. You're still in control, and authorship is yours. The AI doesn't replace you as a writer—it guides you, prompting you to ask yourself specific questions.

As the iA blog post states, there's a spectrum of AI use, from using it as a discussion partner to having it read and write everything for you.

The sweet spot will likely be using AI for brainstorming and thinking, as a spell, grammar, and fact checker, while staying in control and doing the thinking and writing.