Hearts & Minds: What happened when I asked ChatGPT to write in my style

Everyone is doing it. Well. Everyone that is, except this purist, principled and yes, sad, author. But then this is taking longer to write, AI would be good enough. It won’t of course, if this was generated by AI it would contain dull, technical language and be repetitive and rambling. That’s what happened when ChatGPT was asked to produce a piece in my style. What came back bore those traits. Then, perhaps that is my writing. Certainly, it is what the computer thought. Aaaagh!

Moving on from personal angst, it is obvious that ever increasing amounts of content are being written by bots. What is more, those who make the requests are openly admitting so. Once there was a certain shame attached to using AI; now it is fast disappearing.

One multinational has a closed AI loop and a senior executive freely says he avails himself of it all the time, even when drafting emails. Last week, an avatar of a CEO ‘spoke’ in a short video accompanying a stock exchange results announcement. Another corporate head told a tech conference how he uses AI to help prepare all his speeches.

One CEO told The Times how he shared his financial results statement with AI and asked it to run a tone analysis of the copy. He received a low score so he requested the computer went to work. Words were swapped and hyperbole was inserted – too much as it made his announcement seem over-the-top. His mark was brilliant, too high. He made some changes of his own, removed some of the breathless excitement so that not every aspect was ‘exceptional’, and got down to a presentable and creditable level.

Putting aside the dangers in uploading such sensitive figures - it is to be hoped he used a secure system - it is clear every company, if they do not possess one already, requires a ‘Use of Generative AI’ policy. It should be declared and ought to say something like: ‘At [Company Name], we embrace generative AI as a tool to enhance creativity, efficiency, and insight in our communications. We encourage our team to explore AI-driven solutions while ensuring all outputs are guided by human judgement, expertise, and ethical standards. AI-generated content must be reviewed and approved by qualified staff before delivery, and the unique value of human experience remains central to our approach.’

At least, that is what AI said it should say.

Chris Blackhurst is one of the UK’s foremost business journalists. He was previously Editor of The Independent and City Editor of the Evening Standard.