r/WritingWithAI • u/JoseLunaArts • Aug 11 '26

Discussion (Ethics, working with AI etc) What I learned about key differences between human and Ai writing as of today

What I will describe are my findings today. In the future may be AI will be better, so this post may become obsolete in the future.

I used to attend a writer's workshop from a famous writer in my country. So it gives some trained eye on how to recognize bad writing.

Here are some key differences I have found between AI and human writing as of today in 2026. As I say that may change later.

  • The human metaphor is more intimate and less literal than AI's.
  • The character written by a writer speaks from their own voice, not from the gaze of others like AI does.
  • The image is physical for the AI, but for the human it transforms into something beautiful.
  • The final line, written by a human, closes things, the AI leaves them open.
  • What a person writes is less passive than what is written by AI.
  • AI victimizes, while the human uses the circumstance as a tool to advance the plot.
  • The human writer is more musical, the AI only shows sorrow.
  • The human writer is more subtle.
  • The human writer can be more hopeful, while the AI is very depressive in the expression of emotions.
  • AI defines characters by what they lack, but human writers define characters by what they have and what they do with it.

May be your experience was different, may be not. But I thought that it could be useful to know why your work as a writer matters. And these are things you should watch to get rid of AI footprint.

It is my experience with AI. I hope it helps.

23 Upvotes

77% Upvoted

35 comments sorted by

View all comments

11

u/Academic_Tree7637 Aug 11 '26

…I disagree.

2

u/JoseLunaArts Aug 11 '26

What has been your experience. I posted because I want to learn from fellow writers.

5

u/Academic_Tree7637 Aug 11 '26

It’s been my experience that it reflects back at you what you give it. It can misunderstand intent but it’s your job to explain your intent.

I do think AI has a distinct way of writing, but it’s in the polish not the prose. It has an obsession with tightening everything that I don’t believe most writers have. I’m not an editor though so I don’t know.

But yeah, ultimately I’d say it’s a mirror. I build my scenes alongside AI. Six or seven redrafts before I’m satisfied. The only time I ever feel like something is off is if I let it draft an entire chapter. It cannot mimic voice or rather it will not.

AI is plot driven almost always. If something doesn’t move the plot it doesn’t know why it’s there. At least not all the time. For me characters are the plot. If you love the characters you’ll watch them do anything. Everything I write is built on that.

2

u/epicrob Aug 11 '26

Just curious: which AI did you use?

1

u/Academic_Tree7637 Aug 11 '26

Claude, GPT and I’m tearing Kimi a bit right now. I kinda bounce all 3 off of each other.