One weird trick makes the AI a better writer
21 hours ago
- #AI Writing
- #The Elements of Style
- #Technical Documentation
- AI writing is often painful to read and not preferred for personal or emotional content.
- AI is useful for technical documents like READMEs, which are seen as chores to write.
- Most LLMs have a grating writing style, and making them sound like the user isn't always desirable.
- The author prefers a crisp, clear, concise voice but finds writing well to be effortful.
- The author used Strunk's 'The Elements of Style' to improve AI-generated writing.
- Claude initially refused to edit the out-of-copyright work due to IP-protection filters.
- GPT-5 Codex successfully edited 'The Elements of Style' into a more concise form.
- The edited version of 'The Elements of Style' is about 12,000 words and improves AI prose.
- The author finds it useful to have AI read 'The Elements of Style' before generating human-facing documents.
- Readers are encouraged to share their experiences with this technique.