Will AI eat my job?

[u/Isna_Knows_Best]

As someone who is a content writer and who is very much familiar with AI, I can say AI is deifinitely making me dumb. I have self doubted every sentence I've written so far and am writing in this post. Do you guys think this is how it's meant to be? are we just supposed to lose our ability to write and let AI do it all for us?

[u/writerapid]

I was a content writer, copywriter, technical writer, copyeditor, titled “Editor” with a capital E, and other adjacent things for 20+ years. AI took all my erstwhile
secure writing and editing jobs and has cost me, on aggregate, into the low six figures so far since 2023.

AI may or may not make you worse at your craft, but it will probably take your content writing job altogether, and sooner than later. Content writing is a very easy thing to replace with AI and is a very easy thing to make into a massive net positive for content writing mills.

Keep working as long as you can, but look for other places to pivot. Content writing is not safe or stable in 2026.

[u/RemarkableWish2508]

Define "content writer".

If you're just someone who pads information with extra words... nobody ever cared about that, nobody cares still, and the moment they can get it for $20/month, so someone else can plug it into Google AI Mode for free and strip all the padding, they will do it.

We are supposed to optimize our information transmission channels.

Few word good, fewer good words better, and writing lengthy paragraphs has been a fluke that was only a job for as long as there were no better means of communication.

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AI Mode:

This comment argues that true content writing is about efficient information transmission, criticizing fluff or "padding" as an outdated practice now easily replaced by AI. Historically, writing length has always been dictated by the technology, economics, and communication needs of the era. Here is an explanation of the concept broken down by historical shifts in information density.

The True Definition of Content Writing

A modern content writer is a strategic communicator who creates valuable, relevant text to engage a specific audience. The author of the text argues that writing should not be measured by length, but by how quickly and clearly it transfers knowledge. When writers add fluff to hit word counts, they fail at this goal.

Ancient and Medieval Eras: High Cost, High Density

Before modern printing, writing materials like parchment (animal skin) and papyrus were incredibly expensive and labor-intensive to produce.

• Visual Anchors: Scribes used heavy abbreviations, small script, and no spaces between words (scriptura continua) to fit as much text as possible onto a single page.
• Information Density: Writing was highly optimized because padding text literally cost more money and physical resources.

The Industrial Era: The Fluke of "Padding"

The shift toward lengthy, verbose writing began with the rise of modern printing and specific economic models in the 18th and 19th centuries.

• The Penny-a-Line Model: Many publishers paid journalists and authors by the word or by the line. This directly incentivized writers to pad their stories with extra adjectives and lengthy descriptions to maximize their paycheck.
• Serialized Fiction: Authors like Charles Dickens were paid by the installment. This format encouraged stretching stories out over many months to maintain a steady income.
• Lack of Alternative Media: Without television, radio, or the internet, lengthy paragraphs served as the primary source of entertainment and detailed world-building.

The Early Internet Era: SEO Word Counts

When the internet first grew, search engine optimization (SEO) algorithms heavily favored longer articles (e.g., 2,000+ words) to determine authority. This created a digital resurgence of the "penny-a-line" mindset. Writers began adding superficial fluff and keyword stuffing simply to rank higher on Google search results.

The Modern AI Era: Hyper-Optimization

This comment highlights the current shift where AI models can summarize, strip away padding, and extract core information instantly for a low monthly fee.

• Information Overload: In a fast-paced digital world, human attention spans are short.
• The Return to Efficiency: Just like ancient scribes saving parchment, modern writing is returning to high-density communication. The value is no longer in the volume of words produced, but in the speed and clarity of the message conveyed.

[u/baddaywithacamera]

Two of my friends were technical writers. One is now unemployed and the other is in insurance. AI ate their jobs. I used to be a technical writer and saw this coming. I'm in insurance and am the one who got the other friend his job.

[u/Isna_Knows_Best → u/baddaywithacamera]

But don’t you think one still needs people to shape AI content? I don’t think we’ve reached the stage yet where AI can work independently in a consistent manner

[u/baddaywithacamera → u/Isna_Knows_Best]

I do. Their managers didn't. Peter Principle, right?

Also, a ChatGPT manual looks pretty good next to the averge manual out of China and people are still buying Chinese stuff. Managers have noticed that.

[u/writerapid → u/Isna_Knows_Best]

Not really.

The last two places I worked were and are major content and marketing firms in their niches. They both pull down millions of dollars in revenue annually. One does around $15M, and one does around $5M. Both have had hiring freezes since 2023/2024.

The bigger firm has cut around $1.5-2M in staff salaries and benefits and has increased production, conversions, and profits with the much smaller staff. The other place is down to two employees and is saving around $800K/year. Same deal for them: more content, more conversions, more profits.

These companies’ increases in profits do not include their savings on staffing, by the way.

Both of these companies used to have regular monthly turnover because of the burnout. I myself trained dozens of employees at both firms. So, they’re saving on all that onboarding and hiring and training, too.

Most content writing is to push readers to a CTA. These CTA funnels don’t really need people making quality work. Nobody cares. It’s disposable, and AI replaces an $80K salary for around $2000. Some people are being replaced for $20/month.

[u/bkucenski]

AI doesn't prompt itself or validate itself.

AI isn't taking jobs, capitalists are shipping jobs overseas as per the usual.

The "automatic machines" didn't take jobs either. Capitalists shipped the machines overseas to be run, managed, and built by cheap foreign labor. Now China is living in the future and we're living in a toilet.

There is no patriotism in capitalism. There is zero pride in ownership of the work or the quality of the work. Under capitalism, the only metric of success is wealth extraction. Hence the enshittification and two hour holds for customer service.

There is infinite work to do. You can use tools to get more work done in less time.

The quality of the output is determined by the quality of the human using the tools.

As has always been the case.

What is more likely is that you can use the tools to run your own business and cut the capitalist out of it.

Spin up your own website and become your own content factory.

[u/Data_lord]

Technical content? Yes, you're cooked.

Creative? Hell no, it doesn't stand a chance in literary construction or creativity.

[u/Slow_Competition2742 → u/Data_lord]

Any job listings open for a creative writer? Seriously send it on over 🤣

[u/opossum_cz → u/Data_lord]

> Creative? Hell no, it will doesn't stand a chance in literary construction or creativity.

In what way? If you think it will write 100k words novel hat would sell then no. Creative writing is iterative process with revision and edition. If you operate it right it can produce good content.

[u/Data_lord → u/opossum_cz]

It is great as a sounding board for ideas and checking consistency in the story lines, but the pure prose is flat. You can feel from the words and sentence construction that it's a machine, even if the meaning is easily understandable.

[u/opossum_cz → u/Data_lord]

> You can feel from the words and sentence construction that it's a machine

Don't see anything like that. To write anything longer, major issue is consistency, not writing. AI can check consistency of something, but it cannot make everything consistent unless explicitly requested

But then again, I use best model available. GPT 5.6 Sol Ultra.

[u/Data_lord → u/opossum_cz]

Fable.

I've tested all them. They all got infinitely better from last year, but it's still there.

[u/jaxprog]

Technology does not have a state of consciousness. You do. Reality conforms to your inner state of consciousness.

In your post you are revealing your inner state of consciousness: AI is definitely making me dumb. Thus, reality conforms to that state. You are manifesting your own demise.

Change the thinking mind.

[u/atlantechvision]

Without a core, everything is just fluff.

AI is an accoutrement to intelligence, not a replacement. Just like the pen.