Hi Reader 👋

Thanks for joining me on this productivity newsletter venture.

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AI is here for good. At least until a solar flare takes down all our technology and sends us back into the dark ages.

But until then, we can use AI to help us write engaging newsletters and social media content.

Hemingway might disagree, but we’ll get to that later.

The best way I’ve found to use AI to help me write this newsletter is this:

1. Walk the dog and let my mind wander.
2. Open up AudioPen on the phone. It transcribes your speech into a clear summary based on your instructions. Leave it there and have that as the basis for your newsletter. But I’ve added an extra step.
3. Set up Audiopen to send the transcription and summary to Make dot com. In Make, I’ve built an automation that takes the raw transcript and sends it to GPT-4 with custom instructions. The AI then produces a newsletter issue that’s about 80% of the way there and sounds quite like me.
4. The final step is Make creates a task in ClickUp in my Social Content list. It adds the raw transcript, AudioPen’s tidy summary, and GPT-4’s newsletter starter to the task description.
5. All this happened in the background while walking my dog. When I get home, I can open up ClickUp and find a newsletter issue ready to go. No more staring at a blank page.

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Prefer to watch the steps in a 60-second video? I got you 👇

Will | The Productive Dad @notiondad This is how you can use AI and still write an original newsletter. 1. Walk the dog 2. Talk into your phone for 5 minutes using AudioPen 3. GPT-4 will work its magic on your transcript 4. Get home to find 80% of the newsletter done and waiting for you inside ClickUp 2:41 AM • Nov 27, 2023 1 Retweets 9 Likes Read 3 replies

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Like I said, Hemingway would have words with you if you did this.

His writing is direct, concise, and powerful. It all comes from personal experience. He was dedicated to crafting each sentence and shaping the story’s meaning.

You could ask the AI to write like Hemingway. But that would piss him off even more.

I see two significant issues with getting AI to write your content: truth and critical thinking.

Truth

In the context of building a business or brand, AI writing is a projection.

It could be close to what you believe or super far away. But it’s still a projection.

And so you will attract an audience of people who vibe with the AI rather than with you.

This is short-term thinking.

What happens when Chat GPT goes down? What will people think when you speak totally differently in the DMs than you do in public?

Being authentic and speaking your truth is the best way to attract your tribe and feel good about yourself.

And if you only said the truth, who knows what kind of adventure it could take you on.

Critical Thinking

We don’t write essays in school to get better at writing essays and to look smart. We write them to get better at thinking.

It’s a way for us to structure our thoughts and get them out into the world.

• Start with a premise
• Argue your point
• Give examples
• Write a conclusion and summary.

Writing is thinking.

If you leave all your writing up to AI, you’ll get dumber.

One of the reasons journaling is such a helpful practice is because you get the jumble of thoughts out onto the page.

Now, take that a step further and apply it to business.

Write a banger sales page for your product. Write YouTube video scripts that you know your audience will like. Sell your services in the DMs.

All of this comes from the skill of writing.

Do you want to leave your success up to the AI?

There’s a balance here. It’s one I’ve been trying to find myself. I’ll still use AudioPen as a way to document my thoughts. And I’ll get AI to suggest an outline for a newsletter. But the writing is all down to me. My thoughts, my words, my stories.

Summary

• Experiment with AI and tools like AudioPen.
• Be truthful and authentic, both online and off.
• Write every day.
• Don’t piss off Hemingway.

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Are you using AI to help you write? How much are you relying on it? I’d like to hear what you think.

Thanks for reading.

Will

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Need help with ClickUp? Click here to book your free 15 minute call or reach out to me on 𝕏 @notiondad​ If you'd like to support this newsletter, please check out these affiliate links. They're all products I use and highly recommend: ​ClickUp™ | One app to replace them all​ ​AudioPen | Go from fuzzy thought to clear text. Fast.​ ​Typefully | Write threads on 𝕏, distraction free​ ​Descript | All-in-one video editing, easy as a doc​