Practical AI · 3-minute read
I would happily delegate reformatting the same document for the fourth time. I am less enthusiastic about delegating the part where I notice something interesting.
That distinction gets lost when “use AI” becomes “make everything sound professionally interchangeable.”
The strange comparison, the local detail, the sentence that sounds like an actual person: those may be the parts worth keeping. A business does not need to become a beige paragraph to become more efficient.
Give the machine the assembly work
Copper Finch Creative, a fictional marketing studio invented for this example, is preparing a newsletter for a fictional farm-equipment repair shop. The approved notes include service dates, a maintenance reminder and a mechanic’s observation about customers who say a machine is making “a perfectly normal new noise.”
The studio can use AI to group the notes, propose a structure and create versions of different lengths. A person checks the facts, decides whether the joke fits and keeps the detail that belongs to this particular shop.
An imagined generic rewrite might call the business “your trusted partner in innovative solutions.” That sentence could sell tractors, accounting software or an unusually ambitious toaster. It has not earned its place in the newsletter.
The better brief explains what must stay true, what sounds like the business and what the tool should leave alone.
Separate the work before you delegate it
Let AI help organize: group approved notes, suggest headings, identify repetition and draft alternate lengths.
Keep a person on judgment: choose the point, assess the audience, check the humor and approve every factual claim.
Keep ownership visible: name the editor who is responsible for the final result and can reject a fluent but empty draft.
NIST’s guidance on human-AI interaction emphasizes defining roles and responsibilities. For creative work, that starts with being specific about what you are handing over and what remains yours.
Try this prompt
Organize these approved notes into a draft for [audience and purpose]. Preserve the distinctive observations and phrases marked KEEP. Use plain language and the voice examples I supply. Do not add testimonials, experiences, quotes, results or facts. Flag gaps instead of filling them. Offer two structures, explain what you changed, and leave the final creative choices to me. Notes: [notes]. KEEP: [phrases].
Use material you are permitted to share. Review the output for accuracy and accidental imitation, and remove claims you cannot support. If a personal story or customer quote is missing, the tool must not invent one to make the piece warmer.
Try the workflow on one repeatable task. Count the preparation, review and revision time before declaring victory. Keep the parts that help, and change the ones that create extra work.
The point is to buy yourself more room for attention, relationships and good ideas. Let the machine tidy the desk. Keep the interesting thing you were going to do at it.
Your turn: What would you gladly hand off, and what part of your work should still sound unmistakably like you?
Background: NIST AI RMF 1.0, Appendix C. Both businesses, the mechanic’s line and the sample rewrite are invented editorial examples, not testimonials or actual client results.
