Table of Contents
You’ve seen it, right? Content that’s unmistakably written by AI. The overly enthusiastic language, the weirdly formal phrasing, the bullet points that all sound the same. Content that could have been written by anyone, for anyone, about anything.
Which makes you think AI content must all be bad.
But at the same time, it could be so efficient when you need to create content. So maybe you’ve tried to create content with AI yourself. Maybe you got excited about saving time. Maybe you even published some AI-generated posts. But then they didn’t sound like you. Which brought you right back to that “all AI content must be bad” conclusion.
Here’s the thing: you can create content with AI that sounds like you. I do it constantly. But most people are using it wrong.
They’re treating AI like a writer when it should be a collaborator. They’re handing over the creative work instead of using AI to make their own creativity more efficient.
If you’re an entrepreneur who wants to create more content without sounding like a robot, this post is for you. I’ll show you how to create content with AI as a tool that amplifies your voice rather than replacing it.
The Authenticity Problem with AI Content
Let’s talk about why so much AI content sounds the same.
AI tools are trained on millions of pieces of existing content. They learn patterns, common phrases, and structures that show up repeatedly across the internet. When you ask an AI to “write a blog post about email marketing,” it pulls from all those patterns and gives you something that’s fine. Generic. Safe.
But here’s what it can’t do: it can’t sound like you. Or like me.
It doesn’t know my quirks, my opinions, my stories from working with clients. It doesn’t know that I call things “nerdy” or that I think marketing funnels are rubbish because humans don’t move in straight lines.
The cost of generic content is real. When your content sounds like everyone else’s, you blend into the noise. People scroll past. They don’t remember you. They definitely don’t think “I need to work with this person.”
Authentic content, on the other hand, makes people stop. It makes them think “Yes, this person gets it. They sound like a real human who understands my problem.”
And so people tend to think AI can’t create authentic content.
Real examples of AI voice versus authentic voice:
AI voice: “Email marketing is an essential tool for businesses looking to engage with their audience and drive conversions. By implementing best practices, you can maximise your ROI.”
Authentic voice: “Email marketing works for small business owners because it lands in someone’s inbox when they’re already checking their messages. No algorithm deciding if they see it. No posting at the ‘right time’. Just you, showing up in their space, hopefully getting to have a conversation.”
See the difference?
What if I told you both of these were created with AI, just one was created using my voice?
How to Use AI for Content Creation: What It Should (and Shouldn't) Do
Right, let’s shift how you think about AI tools.
Yes, AI can write. We just saw that. But the question isn’t “can AI write?” It’s “should you let it write without your input?”
The answer is no.
AI isn’t there to replace your thinking. It’s your thinking partner. Your research assistant. Your “what am I forgetting?” check. Your structure helper.
Think about how you’d work with a junior team member. You wouldn’t just say “write a blog about email marketing” and expect brilliance. You’d brief them. You’d review their work. You’d add your own expertise and voice before it went out.
That’s exactly how you should work with AI.
What AI is actually good at
- Generating ideas when you’re stuck
- Suggesting angles you haven’t considered
- Organising messy thoughts into structure
- Expanding on bullet point thoughts
- Finding gaps in your argument
- Offering alternative phrasings
- Coming up with headline variations
- Creating social media versions of longer content
- Catching grammar and clarity issues
What AI is terrible at
- Understanding your specific client’s pain points
- Knowing your brand voice
- Having original opinions
- Telling your stories
- Making strategic decisions about what to say
- Creating genuine connection
Your role is to be the expert, the strategist, the human with the stories and opinions. AI’s role is to help you get those thoughts out of your head and onto the page more efficiently.
Want more details on what AI can and can’t handle in your business? I’ve written a complete breakdown in What AI Can (and Can’t) Do for Your Business.
Practical Workflows for Creating Content with AI
The Brain-First Approach
This is my most common workflow.
You start: Outline your main points, jot down your key ideas, note the stories you want to tell.
AI helps: Expand your bullet points into paragraphs, suggest transitions between sections, offer examples you might have missed.
You finish: Add your voice back in, include your specific examples, polish the personality.
Best for: When you know what you want to say but need help organising it or filling in the gaps.
Example: I might write “email automation saves time because you’re not manually sending the same emails over and over, plus you can nurture people without remembering to follow up.” Then I ask AI to expand that into a full paragraph. Then I go back and make sure it sounds like me, adding specific examples from client work.
The AI-Spark Approach
Use this when you’re genuinely stuck on what to talk about.
AI starts: Generate ideas, suggest angles, propose frameworks for tackling a topic.
You take over: Pick the bits that resonate, reject what doesn’t fit, add your own perspective.
You finish: Write the actual content in your voice, using AI’s ideas as a jumping-off point.
Best for: When you’re staring at a blank page and need creative sparks.
Example: I might ask “What are common misconceptions about email marketing?” AI gives me a list. I pick the three that I hear most from clients and write about those from my own experience, completely ignoring AI’s explanations. – This is actually the one I use the least because I prefer my Content Tree approach for this instead.
The Back-and-Forth Approach
This is literally what I’m doing right now with AI as I write this post.
Collaborative throughout: You write a bit, AI suggests, you refine, AI expands, you edit.
Iterative process: Keep going back and forth until you’ve built something that works.
You control: Every decision about what stays and what goes.
Best for: Complex pieces where you need a thinking partner.
Example: Writing this blog post, I outlined the structure myself, wrote key sections in my own words, used AI to expand certain points, then went back through everything to make sure it sounded like me. I scrapped whole sections AI wrote because they did not fit and made it rewrite pieces I did not agree with. The back-and-forth helped me think through the topic more thoroughly than I would have on my own.
The Polish-Only Approach
This is the most conservative approach.
You write everything first: Get all your thoughts down in your own words.
AI helps: Check grammar, suggest clearer phrasing, spot structural issues.
You decide: Which suggestions to accept, which to ignore.
Best for: When your ideas are solid but execution needs work, or when you want maximum control.
Example: I write an entire email in my own voice, then ask AI “Is this clear? Any confusing sentences?” It might suggest rephrasing something or point out where I’ve assumed knowledge the reader doesn’t have. But the core content is 100% mine.
Maintaining Your Brand Voice with AI
Now the most important part of any content piece: your voice. Your voice is what makes you, you. It’s how you explain things, the words you choose, the examples you use, the tangents you go on.
Before you can train AI to help with your voice, you need to know what your voice actually is.
Quick exercise:Â Look at three pieces of content you’ve written that feel most like you. What patterns do you notice?
- Do you use short, punchy sentences or longer, flowing ones?
- Do you swear? Use British spellings? Avoid certain words?
- How do you address your reader?
- What’s your go-to structure for explaining things?
Once you know your voice, you can guide AI to match it.
When I work with AI, I give it clear instructions about my voice:
- UK English
- Conversational but professional
- No em dashes or excessive hyphens
- Direct explanations with examples
- Second person (“you”) not third person
- Short paragraphs for easy scanning
The more specific you are about your voice, the better AI can match it.
But with Claude (one of the AI tools) specifically, I also feed it loads of blog posts I’ve fully written before, along with other content, so it has my voice in several different ways and can use that to mimic how I structure sentences or explain things.
But here’s the critical part: even with good instructions, you still need to check everything. Read it out loud. Does it sound like something you’d say? If not, rewrite it.
The “voice check” I use before publishing anything:
- Would I actually say this in a client call?
- Does this sound like my other content?
- Are these my real opinions or generic advice?
- Have I included specific examples from my experience?
- Would my audience recognise this as coming from me?
If the answer to any of these is no, I rewrite.
Even with the use of AI, content creation can be a hard nut to crack.Â
Want to create content that connects, engages and converts?
Red Flags Your Content Is Too AI-Generic
Even with the best intentions, it’s easy to let too much AI voice slip through. Here are the warning signs.
Telltale signs of AI content:
- Everything is phrased as a benefit or feature (“This powerful tool enables you to…”)
- Lots of words like “landscape,” “leverage,” “optimise,” “seamless,” and “robust”
- Every sentence is roughly the same length
- Lists are suspiciously balanced (always three items, always five points)
- No personal anecdotes or specific examples
- Overly formal tone that doesn’t match how you’d actually speak
- Hedging language everywhere (“may,” “could,” “potentially,” “often”. Although this is something I do myself as well so take this one with a grain of salt)
Quick checklist before publishing:
- Does this include at least one specific example from my experience?
- Have I used “I” or “we” to show this comes from my perspective?
- Would my ideal client recognise this as written for them specifically?
- Is there anything in here that only I could have written?
- Does this reflect an actual opinion I hold, not just general advice?
How to “humanise” AI-assisted content:
- Add specificity. Replace general statements with specific examples. Instead of “Email marketing helps businesses grow,” write “Last month, a client closed three new coaching clients purely from their welcome sequence.”
- Include your opinion. AI won’t disagree with anything. You should. “Everyone says you need to post on social media daily. I think that’s rubbish if you are a small business owner. (also who has the time?)”
- Tell a story. Even a tiny one. “I had a client once who spent hours crafting the perfect email, only to send it to the wrong segment. We’ve all been there.”
- Use your actual words. If you’d never say “optimise your workflow,” don’t write it. Say “make your work easier” instead.
Break the patterns. Vary your sentence length. Start sentences with “And” or “But” if that’s how you talk. Use fragments sometimes for emphasis. Because you can.
So Here's the Truth About Creating Content with AI
AI is a tool, not a replacement for your brain.
Use it to save time on the mechanical parts of content creation. Use it to spark ideas when you’re stuck. Use it to organise your messy thoughts into something coherent.
But don’t use it to do your thinking for you.
(If you’re wondering what else AI can help with in your business beyond content, check out What AI Can (and Can’t) Do for Your Business.)
Your audience doesn’t need more generic content. They need your perspective, your experience, your voice. They need content that could only come from you.
AI can help you create that content faster, it can help it make more structured if you are a little chaotic. But it can’t create content from scratch for you that fits your audience.
The entrepreneurs who’ll win at content creation aren’t the ones who can prompt AI the best. They’re the ones who use AI to amplify what makes them unique, not replace it.
So go ahead, use AI. Just make sure that at the end of the process, what you publish still sounds unmistakably like you.
