Writing with AI

The six modes of writing help

People say "AI can write for you" as if that's one thing. It's actually six different moves, and knowing which one you're making is half the skill:

Notice that only the first mode has AI writing from scratch. The other five all start from something of yours — and honestly, those tend to give the best results, because the substance is already true and already you. If writing whole prompts still feels new, the fundamentals are in Prompting 101.

Two workflows, one habit

Almost every writing task falls into one of two workflows. The important thing they share: the last step is always you.

Which workflow to pick? A rough rule: if the facts are the hard part (a formal letter format you've never written), use workflow 1. If the feelings are the hard part (a sensitive message you've been rewriting for an hour), write your messy version first and use workflow 2 — the result will sound far more like you.

Five real situations, worked

Let's make this concrete with situations most of us actually face:

• Job application letter. Give it the job ad, your key experience, and one thing you're genuinely proud of. Ask for "confident but not boastful". Then — crucially — check that every claim in the draft is true. AI happily invents "5 years of experience" you don't have.
• Complaint to a service provider. Your internet's been down for a week and you're furious. Type the furious version, then: "Rewrite this as a firm, factual complaint. Include a clear request: refund for the outage days, and a deadline of 7 working days." Firm-but-calm letters get results; rants get filed.
• Difficult message to a landlord. "My landlord raised the rent 25%. I want to negotiate, keep the relationship polite, and mention I've paid on time for 3 years. Draft a message in respectful Bangla." Then soften or sharpen until it sounds like something you'd actually say.
• Social post. "Write a short Facebook post announcing my tailoring shop now takes online orders. Friendly, 3 lines, no hashtags spam — 2 at most." Small-business owners save hours a week on exactly this.
• Wedding invitation wording. A place where tone is everything. Give the names, date, venue, and the vibe ("traditional but warm, Bangla with the salutation done properly") and ask for 3 options. Picking from options is much easier than writing from zero.

I need to write a complaint to my internet provider. Facts: no service for 6 days (12–17 of this month), I called support 3 times, ticket number GX-4471, no fix. I pay monthly for a 20 Mbps package.

Write a firm but polite complaint email that:
1. States the facts and ticket number
2. Requests a refund for the outage days
3. Sets a 7-working-day deadline before I escalate to the regulator
Keep it under 150 words.

Below is a message I wrote. Don't rewrite it from scratch — keep my meaning and my voice, but fix grammar, tighten it, and make the tone 20% warmer. Then list the 3 biggest changes you made and why.

[paste your draft here]

Translate — but localise

AI translation between Bangla and English is genuinely good now, but the magic word is localisation — adapting the writing to how people in a place actually write, not just swapping words. Compare:

The same trick works in reverse for understanding: paste an intimidating English legal notice and ask, "explain this in everyday Bangla, then draft my reply in formal English." Two languages, one conversation.

The ownership rule

Here is the one rule that keeps AI writing safe and honest: AI writes the draft; you supply the truth and the humanity. In practice that means:

• Never send anything you haven't fully read. Not skimmed — read. AI drafts routinely contain invented specifics: a reference number you never gave, an experience you don't have, a warm anecdote about a colleague that never happened. It fills gaps with plausible fiction — that's just how these models work (see Hallucinations).
• Check every fact, name, and number against reality. The polish is AI's job; the truth is only ever yours.
• Add one human touch the AI couldn't know — a specific detail, a genuine sentence of your own. It's usually the line the reader remembers.

Keeping your own voice

The most common complaint about AI writing is that it all sounds the same — smooth, polite, and slightly soulless. Two fixes:

First, show it your voice. Paste two or three samples of your real writing — old emails, messages, anything — and say: "This is how I write. Match this style for everything in this chat: my sentence length, my level of formality, my quirks." It's surprisingly good at imitation once it has samples. If you use the same tool daily, tools with custom instructions or memory can remember your style permanently — that's covered in Custom Instructions, and how chats remember things at all is in Context & Memory.

Second, ban the AI clichés. Tell it: "No 'I hope this email finds you well', no 'delve', no 'in today's fast-paced world'." You'll recognise these stock phrases within a week of using AI — and so will your readers.

One more habit that compounds: when a draft comes back almost-right, don't fix it by hand and move on — tell the AI what was wrong ("too formal", "the second paragraph grovels"). It corrects instantly, and you're teaching it your taste for next time in the same chat. That back-and-forth loop is the whole subject of Iterating.

Key takeaways

• Six modes: draft-for-me, fix-mine, tone-shift, translate/localise, shrink/expand, proofread. Modes that start from your own words usually give the best results.
• Two workflows — blank page → AI draft → you edit, or your draft → AI polish → you approve. Both end with you reading every word.
• Ask for localisation, not just translation: "the way a Bangladeshi office actually writes it."
• AI invents plausible specifics. Never send what you haven't read; check every fact, name, and number.
• Feed it 2–3 samples of your writing and say "match this style" — that's how you keep your voice.
• The draft is AI's; the truth and the humanity are yours. That division of labour is the whole game.