Disclaimer: this work is purely human.
Two weeks ago, I got accused of using AI in my last post.
Now I know AI articles are rampant nowadays. And I admit, when I was working as a virtual assistant, I used ChatGPT, with my client’s go signal, to churn out articles for him.
And yes, I’ll also admit that the first few articles I posted on Substack were AI-generated.
But I stopped using AI two months ago. Why? Because I didn’t write them. So since then, I decided to write my articles by my own.
And guess what? Just as I started writing my articles personally without any AI, I got accused of using one for an article I wrote with my own fingers and mind.
Yes, it’s ridiculous. And yes, I took it quite personally. In fact, it’s why I’m writing this now. Because I realized that with the advent and rise of AI, bad writing is now being unfairly treated as AI-created.
It doesn’t have to be, of course, but such is the way now. However, there are ways to prevent that from happening to others.
And I will share these ways. Hopefully, anyone who reads this will find them useful.
Add a disclaimer
The most obvious answer. In fact, it’s so obvious I should have done this from the start.
“This work is purely human.”
See, it’s not so hard to include a disclaimer (and I’m really stupid for not adding one in my previous post). Simply tell your readers that you wrote your article, blog post or book by your own fingers. That’s it. No need to complicate things.
Of course, the AI Inquisitor wouldn’t believe you. But, eh, that’s on them.
Laugh at them
Because what else can you and they do? You know it’s not written by AI. They believe it’s written by AI. You won’t ever agree.
I should have done this when someone accused me. And I admit that emotions got the better of me. But lesson learned, right?
So, if ever you’re accused of using AI even though you haven’t, laugh at them. Joker style.
After all, laughter is the best medicine against toxicity. And if you can’t beat them, then join them 🤣
Be a bad writer
AI writes too perfectly. AI writes without mistakes. So if you have no grammar errors, you must be using AI.
In that case, don’t write perfectly. Be as awful of a writer as you can be. Look at this post. It’s badly written, right?
Because I didn’t use AI.
So be proud of your typos and punctuation errors. Use adverbs and broken sentence structure. Embrace mediocrity.
That means your 100% human.
(See? That’s a wrong word right there.)
Prove them wrong
This one is simple, but kind of a hassle if you’re not prepared.
Basically, you would prove naysayers by showing them actual proof that you’re not using AI. It doesn’t matter if it’s a live recording or a website. Or both. As long as you prove it.
Yes, many of them will still think you’re using AI. But at least you have actual evidence to support your defense. It’s their loss.
Ignore them
The simplest and best solution, which I should have followed and definitely would after this article.
Ignore the haters. Ignore the bullying. Ignore the accusations.
And write. Honestly, it shouldn’t really matter what they say. Ignorance is bliss for them, and some people tend to view things in a narrow tunnel.
So don’t bother defending yourself. Especially if the accusers have no proof.
They aren’t worth the time.
Final Thoughts
I know. Writing this post may sound childish. And in hindsight, it indeed is. As I’ve said in my previous tip and realization, I could have ignored the accusation.
But we are writers; our dignity needs to be defended. Not all the time, obviously. But this isn’t just happening to me. It’s happening to many of us.
AI has some uses, yes. Especially if your clients want you to pump out articles without much quality. And the truth is, there will be times when you might adopt those quirks AI is known for, especially if you’re reading a lot of texts written by it.
But honestly? That just means you’re still a novice writer. I am a novice writer, even if I’ve been writing for ten years now.
However, we shouldn’t feel ashamed of that. In fact, we should be proud that we make mistakes, and that we have to improve.
Because AI is perfect and don’t make mistakes.
And that means we writers and authors are humans.