Put your hand up if you feel personally victimised by ChatGPT and the em dash?

I have always been what I’d describe as a conversational writer — I write like I’m talking to you.

I love things grouped together, particularly in threes, but honestly this extends beyond writing. At home, decorative stuff is grouped into threes too. (Is that weird?!)

I love linking phrases like “But here’s the thing…” and short, punchy openers like “And honestly?”

And now? I find myself questioning whether people think AI wrote it… or I did.

And honestly? Yeah, sometimes it did. Because it’s an excellent tool to maximise my time. And my time is probably my biggest business asset. So why wouldn’t I use something that helps me work more efficiently?

There are loads of tools designed to save us time and help us communicate faster. Think automated emails and DM responses, Amazon shopping, Siri, Alexa, Apple shortcuts on your iPhone, Teams or Zoom calls instead of travelling to meetings, Deliveroo for food — the list is endless. We exist in a world where time is a finite resource, so why is AI suddenly the problem?

Now, I totally get it when it comes to kids at school or university. Learning to write reports and structure arguments is a skill that takes time, effort, and focus. But I’ve paid my dues. I’ve been writing professionally for a very long time before AI ever appeared on the scene.

For me, what matters isn’t simply whether AI wrote something — it’s how AI is being used.

When I use AI, I prompt it. I give it information I want included, or a rough draft of a post, and let it do its thing. But it doesn’t stop there. It then goes backwards and forwards between AI and me several times before the final version ever sees daylight. So ultimately it's still me that wrote it.

I also use AI to analyse data quickly — competitors, websites, social media performance, customer behaviour. I use it to review collateral I’ve already created. Sometimes I use it simply to get to a first draft faster.

Take a recent example. I created a rough logo concept using AI prompts and had a draft within minutes. That logo will now be refined, edited, and developed in other programs far beyond anything ChatGPT, Claude, or any other AI tool initially produced. But the starting point saved hours, possibly days ,of design work and back-and-forth with a client.

And ultimately? The client benefits from that efficiency too.

By creating something in a fraction of the time, clients get work delivered quicker, businesses can react faster, and brands can be first in line when customers are actively looking for what they sell. Isn’t that a good thing?

But here’s the problem I now face. I’m at a bit of a quandary with how I write.

I used to love pulling together my thoughts for my own content because it genuinely sounded like me. It sounded like how I’d speak if we were sitting having a coffee together. Now? I sometimes feel like I don’t know how to write as myself anymore because the way I naturally write suddenly feels suspiciously AI-coded. And when I try too hard not to sound like AI wrote my homework, I don’t sound like myself either.

So how do I get around it? Well, I delete a lot of em dashes for a start. I use far more Oxford commas than I ever used to. And when I notice patterns creeping into my writing, I’ll deliberately rewrite sections just to break them up.

But ultimately? I’m learning to let go of what people think.

Because whether I use AI or not, the thoughts are still mine. The strategy is still mine. The voice, the experience, the opinions, the ideas — they still start with me.

AI just helps me get there faster.