Is AI Ruining Written Communication? The Internet Itself?

Welcome to the second edition of The Sunday Prompt, where we explore the AI-driven shifts redefining work.

A bit of a hot take this week.

AI-generated junk is everywhere. But does that mean AI is ruining written communication? And the internet, itself?! Or are we missing the bigger picture?

Let’s get to it. 👇

All of my snooty writer friends are mad about AI.

They’re railing against it, calling themselves Luddites (their word, not mine), patting themselves on the back for resisting the machine. AI is ruining writing, they say. It’s turning everything into soulless, generic drivel. And you know what? They’re not wrong.

But they’re also missing the point.

Yeah, AI-generated junk is everywhere. Press releases, job postings, blog spam, even the LinkedIn comments section, some of the worst offenders. A recent study found that nearly a quarter of corporate press releases and 15% of job postings already contain AI-generated content. And let’s be real, most of it is garbage.

AI is the new Demand Media, cranking out endless, shallow filler like the content farms of the early 2000s (7,000 'articles' a day at their peak). But this time, there’s no limit. Infinite scale. Infinite noise.

So, yeah, I get the frustration.

But let’s not pretend rejecting AI is some noble stand for “real writing.”

Progress isn’t perfect. The iPod gave us a thousand songs in our pocket, but killed album artwork and compressed the hell out of the music. Industrial farming made it possible to feed a booming global population but at the cost of soil depletion and factory farming. AI-generated writing is the same. It’s got trade-offs. On the one hand, it’s flooding the world with more mediocrity, sure, but on the other, it’s actually improving communication and giving people a voice who never had one before.

Because let’s be honest, most people aren’t good writers.

For every crisp, well-structured email in my inbox, there are ten that barely communicate the basics. Who? What? When? Where? Why? No idea! The state of the education system? Blame that if you want. But the reality is, your customers are dealing with it. People send confusing emails, vague project updates, incoherent sales pitches, and messages that require follow-ups just to figure out what they actually mean. But not anymore.

Now, AI cleans it up before send. It recognizes the intent, fills in the missing details, and smooths out the phrasing. Customers get clearer, more professional communication, and the people on your team who struggle with writing suddenly don’t sound like they do, not to mention the time savings. AI isn’t making bad writers great, but it is making them better than they were yesterday. And that’s a good thing. Generic? Maybe. But nobody ever won the Pulitzer for delivering an awesome KPI status email anyway.

And it’s not just the weak writers who benefit.

There are really smart people, including scientists, engineers, and domain experts, who have original ideas and valuable insights but lack the confidence or skill to translate them into writing. AI helps them find their voice. It bridges the gap between knowledge and communication, allowing people with big ideas to finally share them in a way that makes sense. I want exposure to those ideas and expertise. I don’t care if they use ChatGPT to get them to me. I’m looking for substance over style.

And what about the writers? They’re not using AI to write for them. They don’t need to.

They’re using it to work smarter. AI helps with research, refining arguments, and structuring complex ideas. It can be used to challenge assumptions, catch weak spots, and speed up the editing process. It gets the grunt work out of the way—optimizing social posts, writing meta descriptions, and handling SEO tags—so they can focus on the stuff that actually requires creativity and original thought.

The Luddites weren’t wrong, but the future moved forward anyway. AI is no different. The train has left the station. You can stand on the tracks and shake your fist, or you can get on board and figure out how to make it work for you.

AI isn’t going to write the next great novel. It’s not crafting headline-grabbing investigative journalism or penning the kind of editorial that shifts public discourse. That still belongs to humans, to real writers. But not every piece of writing needs to be art. Sometimes, it just needs to be clear.

AI gives unskilled writers a helping hand, making life easier for the rest of us. It gives thinkers a translator and a voice, so we can benefit from their ideas. And it gives skilled writers an on-demand creative assistant, so they can write more good stuff. After all, who doesn't enjoy a good long read on the origins of the jalapeño popper or an expertly crafted press release (I see you!)?

And what’s the trade-off?

Some bullshit LinkedIn post? Another spammy comment about the “ever-changing landscape”? You already scroll past 99% of that crap when it’s written by actual humans.

The nice thing about content today? It’s ephemeral. Transactional. If it’s trash, just keep scrolling.

Sounds like a good deal to me.

If this email was forwarded to you and you’d like it delivered directly to your inbox each day, subscribe below.