
The prevalence of AI has seen all industry sectors quaking in their boots – even us. Does this mean it’s coming for our jobs, or can it be used as a helpful tool? We speak to experts and fellow writers about this topic.
Artificial intelligence is all around us nowadays. We’ve seen tools such as ChatGPT used to suggest travel itineraries, come up with copywriting for social media posts, and even plan marriage proposals! Clearly, it’s helping us in a lot of ways. And honestly? I’m here for it. While this is a fascinating development, I can’t help but wonder: with AI becoming more widespread, am I at risk of losing my job (and identity) as a writer? Or, can we work together to develop exciting content that readers will enjoy in years to come? As I ponder these thoughts, I seek answers and opinions from experts and fellow writers.
A jumble of emotions concerning AI

It’s no surprise that humans have mixed sentiments about AI. According to a February 2023 study conducted by GWI, more than half polled were excited but apprehensive about the technology’s rapid development. GWI’s data journalist Chris Beer highlights the potential ethical misuse of AI, including spreading misinformation, as the most significant concern among participants. Its research also says 28% worry that their jobs are at risk because of AI.
“Another interesting thing to note here is that, unlike many technologies, AI is actually being picked up by people at the top first. Often, new software travels from the bottom up. With this wave of technology, senior managers are currently the most likely to use it in the workplace,” Chris shares with me.
While there’s apprehension, there are those – writers included – who welcome AI with open arms and don’t consider it a threat. 27-year-old Daston Lam, a senior public relations account executive at Dify, looks at the tool as a “massive opportunity for beginner to intermediate writers to leverage its capabilities and improve their writing”.
Nick Oh, a senior social media executive at an international school, has been using it because it makes his job easier. However, he understands why others might perceive it as a threat. The 33-year-old opines: “A realistic dark prediction? A bulk of writing will be done by AIs while being overlooked by only a handful of writers. Hopefully, it’s not as simple as that.”
Here at Honeycombers, we draw on AI tools to aid efficiency and productivity in varying degrees. My team has used it to research, develop snappier headline ideas, and get inspiration for social media posts. While it’s beneficial, we don’t use it to produce articles. I mean, we’re hired to write! It won’t be cool if everything you read here is AI-generated.
Are other writers affected too?

It’s not just lifestyle writers like us who are affected by the uprising of AI. Fareez Shah, 30, is a singer-songwriter of Fingerfunk, a band based in Singapore. While he has yet to tap into the tool to help him write songs, he acknowledges its impact and benefits. “It can be advantageous to musicians who struggle with writing lyrics. Besides language, it will also be interesting to see how AI can write songs based on different topics and themes and the perspectives it can provide.”
While Fareez isn’t opposed to using the tool in his songwriting, he doesn’t see the need to tap into it yet. “I write my songs based on what I have experienced in life and personal messages I wish to express,” he states. While he’s unaware of other musicians using AI to help them craft songs, he doesn’t see anything wrong with utilising it. “If it makes your writing more effective and efficient, why not?”
Meanwhile, self-professed confessional poet and author Rachel Tan has applied AI in her work. “I’ve used it to generate a website summary, then prompted it to adjust for tone. It was beneficial because it was of a technical nature, and I was pressed for time and mentally tired,” the 35-year-old explains. “My client liked it and asked me to adjust again, which I happily did.”
Both echo Daston and Nick’s views – they don’t see AI as a threat. Fareez firmly believes technology won’t supersede the emotions channelled into lyrics written by humans, while Rachel thinks anything AI-generated lacks the human touch.
Striking the right balance

In our line of work, encountering mental blocks is a familiar occurrence. I’ve taken multiple breaks on days when I feel like I’ve hit a brick wall in creative thinking. In fact, I did that as I worked on this piece. The challenge also extends to conceptualising angles for new pieces and the research required to produce thoughtful content. To say that the work is both time-consuming and energy-intensive is an understatement.
That’s why Urvashi Raizada, content director at Bud, recommends leveraging AI tools to enhance creativity and productivity. These applications streamline research by gathering information from the web and brainstorming fresh angles and outlines. However, writers must still verify findings with trusted sources to maintain credibility in their content. I’ve used ChatGPT on several occasions to compile research on certain topics; although it yielded great results, I still had to perform fact-checks on Google. Isn’t the tool supposed to aid in efficiency?
On top of that, AI-generated content lacks human creativity and touch, which Urvashi highlights. “The writing still needs significant human intervention if it’s going to be any good. AI-generated content is often too generic and lacks the impact, creativity, and opinion found in human-generated content,” she tells me.
Unfortunately, this isn’t discernible to the naked eye. Chris points out that only one in five people can differentiate between AI-generated and human-made content. “The technology has reached a stage where it’s difficult to tell it apart from what humans make, leading consumers to be unsure of what they see,” he notes.
It’s no question that AI-generated content has become remarkably advanced, blurring the lines between human writing styles and machine learning. This raises questions about the future of writing and the relationship between human creativity and AI.
Will AI replace writers in the future?

Those who’ve been following the news are probably aware of the ongoing writer and actor strikes in Hollywood. One of the hot-button issues that triggered this is the decision to utilise AI in automating scripts. As our American counterparts rally against this, is it something we should be concerned with? Will AI take over our jobs and render writers obsolete?
Urvashi believes that technology will push writers to work even harder. “With AI’s ability to do the grunt work of initial web crawling and research, writers can up their game and add value through more skilled or experiential contributions like strategy, creativity, context, cultural nuance, and more,” she says.
Daston concurs: “It’s not useful in my work, where creativity is needed to craft compelling stories and interesting narratives.” He also feels that AI tools are far from perfect, as they still require a writer’s eye to discern nuances and ensure coherence.
But what if the future – and specifically writing – is overtaken by AI? Nick shudders at the thought. “A future where everything is AI-generated seems like a cold, dystopian world bereft of the human touch. Do we want writing, or do we want compelling writing? The latter, which involves creativity and empathy, is something an AI could never provide.”
That’s a rather bleak outlook. But, if most people can’t differentiate between AI and human-generated content, maybe it’s not something we should be overly concerned about. Technology requires time for improvement. Who knows, by then we may be accustomed to AI being present in our lives. Perhaps we writers won’t lose our jobs; instead, AI could be our virtual personal assistants. Or colleagues.
So, now that you’ve made it to the end, did you figure out which lines in this piece were written by AI?