AI Help Me Think, Not Write: Writers, AI and Credibility

These days, it’s not just about whether your work is good—it’s about whether people believe you wrote it yourself.

This idea came to me after reading several LinkedIn posts and articles discussing the growing mistrust clients have towards authors and skilled writers. Some writers claim that their readers/clients may assume that well-written pieces are AI-generated, rather than original writing work. Such assumptions can be particularly frustrating for those of us who have spent years perfecting our writing skills, especially in a second language (for those who don’t know me, my first language is Spanish).

Over the past few months, there has been growing reflection on the expanding role of AI in everyday life, particularly in research, writing, and creative work. What began as a concern about job displacement - at least for me, because why do you need a research social scientist if you have ChatGPT anyway, right? — has evolved into a more subtle and complex fear: the fear of original work being dismissed as artificially generated.

It is clear that these tools are here to stay, regardless of our opposition to them. As a grant writer, these are essential tools for me as they help summarize new topics quickly, generate graphics I would otherwise spend hours creating, and brainstorm when I feel stuck—especially since I often work solo. But these tools are sharpening my work; they don’t replace it. I still study, review, write and edit grant applications line by line. I would argue that the use of AI tools has become mandatory for working effectively if we want to remain competitive in the market.  However, I believe that the issue about the writer’s credibility is much closely related to our commitment to transparency rather than how and to what extent we are using AI tools.

I propose an open, honest, and clear statement about how we use AI tools in our work. Not as a defensive move, but as a way to rebuild trust and redefine authorship. We could imagine standardizing short disclosures, like: “This article was written by the author, with AI assistance for early research and proofreading.”

As conversations around AI deepen, nuance is critical. Technology can support but not replace the lived experience, critical thinking, and personal voice that define meaningful work. As we start this new path of technology and human interactions, we must remain ethical both as content writers/creators but also as readers.

Disclosure: this piece is a POV, supported with AI tools for the structuration and proofreading processes..

Esther Jimenez Atochero, MA