The Authentic AI Writing Framework
Use AI to write without losing authenticity (or your ethics)
This week, AI writing expert and I are trading places. James authored this issue, and I’m writing for his newsletter, Write10X. You’ll enjoy what James says, so let me invite you to read the entire piece. And if you’re not already subscribed to his newsletter, I invite you to do so.
A quiet fear lives in the minds of even the most seasoned marketers.
AI is not just replacing it.
It’s becoming unrecognizable even to ourselves in the process.
Because when the promise of AI is scale, speed, and non-stop content—what happens to authenticity? To voice? To the ethics that guide the work we do?
That’s what today’s newsletter is about.
You can write with AI powerfully, ethically, and authentically, but you can’t do it without thinking about it and without the proper mental frameworks.
But you need a system—a mindful one. I call it the Authentic AI Writing Framework. This three-layer approach fuses the best of human creativity and AI efficiency without sacrificing authenticity (or your ethics).
Let’s break it down.
Why an Authentic AI Framework Matters
Let’s zoom out for a second. Zoom out, go on, go up and up, and you’ll see that …
Ethical marketing is under fire.
AI is flooding the content pipelines.
Generic, soulless copy is winning on volume, but losing trust.
And if you’re reading this, you’re probably one of the marketers who still care about what goes into the message. Who still cares about authenticity in writing?
Not just the numbers that move up or down.
The Authentic AI Writing Framework is my answer to this. It helps writers and marketers:
Never lose themselves in the tech.
Never sacrifice clarity for speed.
Never mistake efficiency for excellence.
It’s a way to scale your content without diluting your voice. To build trust, not just traffic.
This framework is composed of three layers. Let’s start from the innermost.
Layer 1: The Human Origin
Every authentic piece of writing starts with your:
Ideas
Beliefs
Values
The stuff that doesn’t show up in a prompt template but bleeds through your sentences nonetheless.
Too many creators jump straight into ChatGPT, hoping it will find the idea for them. But tools don’t create meaning. Only you can do that through your internal world and lived experience.
That’s why Layer 1 is to know yourself.
“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.” - Sun Tzu
By knowing yourself, you establish a firm foundation for your ideas, whatever they may be. This is the foundation that everything else will rest on, so you must create it properly. Here are some key points to consider:
What is your story?
What are your core values?
How do you view the world?
What key issues does your industry have?
Where do you stand on those key issues?
Why do you build here?
Action item: Establish your human origin
Open a blank page and free-write for 10 minutes on the prompts above. Then highlight one line that feels most like you. That’s your seed.
Layer 2: The AI Amplifier
Once your ideas are clarified, then bring in the AI.
This is where your voice meets velocity. I call this the Amplifier layer because AI should never replace your work, not even create it from scratch. It should only amplify what already exists.
The idea comes from your human origins, and then is amplified through AI-powered processes:
Topic ideation
Outline creation
Content research
Drafting articles
Asset creation
Once you have a firm foundation, you can scale your ideas through the processes above. I have processes for each one, and you can, too. It takes a lot of trial and error, though.
Master those processes, and you can leverage AI to amplify your human voice. And save five hours of writing.
Action item: Document AI use
Do a case study of how AI affects your content creation processes. Use AI for any of the processes outlined above, then record the results when you’re just doing it yourself, vs. with AI. Also, record thoughts about authenticity and ethics when using the AI.
Level 3: The Authenticity Filter
This is where most people stop. They get the draft, “polish” it, then hit publish.
But if you want your writing to be truly authentic and align with you, this final layer is non-negotiable.
This is what I call the Authenticity Filter.
It’s a set of “checks” that every AI-assisted piece should go through before it ever sees the light of day:
Final voice pass: Read it aloud. Does it sound like something you’d actually say? Why, or why not? Modify the article as follows.
Values check: Is this aligned with what I believe in? Does it sound like it could have come from anyone, or only from me?
Humanizing enhancements: Where can I add an IRL story, contextual metaphor, or a surprising stance? This is the seasoning that makes it unmistakably yours.
The piece might be clean without this layer, but it won’t be compelling.
Action item: Use the authenticity filter
Based on the items above, create a checklist for authenticity that aligns with your own writing workflow.
Final Thoughts
If you’re lucky, you haven’t had to deal with AI yet.
Your writing or marketing practice is so safe and stable that worldwide phenomena have not affected it. In that case, I apologize for wasting your time.
But if you’re someone like me, whose marketing work was severely impacted by AI, you must be getting ready. Not to bury your head in the sand even further down. Not even to be alarmist, and say you won’t be replaced.
Instead, you must be ready to engage with this technology. It’s coming, whether you like it or not, and when it does, it’s always better to already know and master it.
So, try this framework. See how it feels.
You don’t have to go all in right away. Just begin. Just one piece. One idea. One real sentence that sounds like you.
Because if there's one thing the world doesn’t need more of, it’s content that feels empty. What it does need is creators—like you—who care enough to write mindfully, even in the age of machines.
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That third level is really the big fall down for most marketers. If we can't do this, then we are dooming the Internet to AI created slop.
Final voice pass: Read it aloud. Does it sound like something you’d actually say? Why, or why not? Modify the article as follows.
Values check: Is this aligned with what I believe in? Does it sound like it could have come from anyone, or only from me?
Humanizing enhancements: Where can I add an IRL story, contextual metaphor, or a surprising stance? This is the seasoning that makes it unmistakably yours.
Excellent post, James and Paul! Thank you!
I love that you’re exploring frameworks that empower writers. And I 💯 agree: human-AI collaboration works best when writers lead with clear intent, and layered critical thinking is key to making that output truly meaningful. People who embrace this mindset adapt faster.
(Sharing some research that backs this: https://arxiv.org/html/2407.19098v1 )