AI in My Workflow

I use AI as part of my writing and content creation process. Here’s exactly how.

What AI Does

• Generates structural drafts from outlines and frameworks I design
• Handles routine execution (organizing ideas, drafting sections, managing continuity)
• Produces critique on technical aspects (pacing, clarity, argument structure)
• Generates options for concepts, examples, or phrasings that I evaluate and filter

What I Do

• Set direction: Topic, argument, scope, audience, voice requirements
• Make editorial decisions: Which ideas survive, which get cut, which need expansion
• Revise for voice and clarity: Articles are revised extensively for Digital Doug’s voice: direct, grounded, evidence-based, no reach
• Verify accuracy: All claims are fact-checked, sources are verified, positions reflect my actual thinking
• Take responsibility: Every article published here represents my perspective and carries my reputation

Why This Works for Me

I work best when I can think in bursts and revise relentlessly. The friction points are mechanical: organizing sprawling ideas, drafting sections, managing continuity across long-form arguments. Those phases drain focus from what I’m actually good at – thinking clearly, challenging assumptions, and sharpening prose.

AI handles the scaffolding. I handle the thinking, the judgment, the voice. Result: clearer arguments, higher quality work, faster publication without sacrificing rigor.

The alternative is fewer finished pieces or abandoning them mid-draft. Neither serves you.

The Craft Foundation

I’ve spent decades developing expertise in IT leadership, systems thinking, and institutional change. That foundation – understanding what actually works vs. what looks good on LinkedIn, recognizing bullshit in real time – is what allows me to strategically use AI tools and maintain editorial authority. Not make slop.

AI doesn’t give me expertise or judgment. It gives me speed through the various phases. The expertise and judgment are mine, built over years of professional practice and thinking.

The Professional Context

Professional writers have always used available tools: editors, research assistants, developmental readers, structural consultants. AI is the latest iteration of this. The ethical requirement isn’t avoiding tools. It’s maintaining your own judgment and taking responsibility for your work.

The deceit isn’t “using AI.” The deceit is hiding it and pretending you generated every word from pure inspiration. That serves no one.

What You’re Reading

Articles here are my analysis, my argument, my reporting. The framework for organizing that argument? Might be AI-assisted. The evidence is mine. The conclusions are mine. The voice is definitely mine.

You’re reading work by someone who thinks the tool through, maintains editorial control, and takes full responsibility for what gets published.

The Test

Does the work hold up? Are the arguments defensible? Is the voice clear and distinctive? Are the claims accurate?

If yes, the process is working. Everything else is noise.