Writing Better With AI
Draft, revise and summarise everyday writing while keeping your voice, meaning and control.
30 minutes Course overview1. Start with the message you want to send
AI is excellent at creating a first draft when you’re staring at a blank page. But it can’t know what you genuinely intend unless you tell it. Start with the purpose, the audience and the tone.
A good draft makes the request easy to understand and doesn’t invent background details. You should still read it before you send it.
2. Rewrite without losing your meaning
One of the easiest uses is rewriting your own words. Try: “Make this clearer but don’t add facts.” Or ask for more direct, warmer, shorter or simpler wording. If you’re worried the result sounds like a corporate robot, say so.
3. Summarise without losing the important bits
You can paste non-sensitive notes and ask for a summary, but be careful. A summary may omit exceptions or nuance. For meeting notes, useful outputs include decisions, actions, owners, dates and unresolved questions. If any of those are missing, instruct the AI to mark them “not provided” rather than guessing.
For example, from fictional planning notes: “We discussed changing the charity event date. Sam will check hall availability. No final date decided.” A good summary should not quietly turn that into “Event moved to Saturday.”
4. Pick the right format
Try a paragraph for a friendly note, headings for a report, bullets for a checklist or a table for comparisons. Don’t let the appearance fool you: beautifully formatted misinformation is still misinformation.
5. Keep your own voice
Read the draft aloud. Would you actually say this? If not, ask the AI to sound more like you, then edit it personally. The aim is to help you communicate, not replace your judgement or personality.
Try it yourself
Write a rough, fictional invitation to a local book swap in your own words. Ask AI to produce a friendly message, a poster paragraph and a three-line reminder.
Compare all three outputs. Did it add anything you didn’t say? Correct it before you consider your task complete.
Can you explain it back?
Answer each question before opening the explanation. You aren’t being graded — this is how you make the knowledge stick.
1. What’s the safest way to ask for a rewrite?
Tell the AI to preserve meaning, facts and any limits, then review the result.
2. What should a meeting summary do if no owner was agreed?
State that the owner is not provided or unresolved, not invent one.
3. Why read an AI-written message in your own voice?
To check that it sounds natural, represents your intent and makes no unsupported commitments.