AI might accidentally sharpen my writing and editing skills.

For my debut Fiction novel, AGAINST THE ODDS OF TRADITION (now on Amazon), I had a handful of beta readers who were kind enough to read the manuscript from cover to cover and give me helpful feedback and ask thought-provoking questions. In my request for their help, I included an additional request not to put the manuscript into any applications, especially those containing AI. This was 2023 to 2024, during the initial enthusiasm of AI application releases.

Fast forward to 2026 and I cannot swing a dead cat without hitting the word “AI” that seems to have planted itself in every speck of dust lingering in the air no matter where I go. From the news about AI-related layoffs to AI’s potentially rogue and dangerous behavior, the world right now seems crazy over AI for all reasons good and bad. Every time I watch writing and publishing videos on YouTube, I cannot escape ads about AI applications that can help me write.

I have not yet used AI for my writing, including my novel, and I plan to keep it that way. While AI search engines might present what read like well-researched summaries and responses to a question, I cannot help but verify that information using the links under the summary. Better yet, I still read books, cover to cover, to conduct research. I have not yet put any of my writing through an AI tool, but I am afraid someone else might do it intentionally or unintentionally.

In an age when it is becoming increasingly difficult to tell the difference between an AI-generated image and a real one, it is also becoming increasingly difficult to know when an application might be using AI to do what you prefer to do manually. For example, there was a short period of time the application I used for email campaigns gave me AI-only options. I was surprised that I did not have an AI-less option. Luckily, they fixed it and I stayed with them.

This year alone, we have had an increasing amount of public and legal activity in publishing over authors accused of using AI, resulting in book deals being cancelled and reputations being damaged. One author claimed that a beta reader ran their manuscript through an AI-tool and sent back AI-generated edits that the author mistook for the reader’s original feedback. All this activity has forced me to take a serious pause in sharing my manuscripts with anyone.

At least not without a signed contract that allows me to sue them for damages from negative impacts caused by their use of AI despite agreeing not to do so. But then, who would want to be an unpaid beta reader? If someone takes the risk of being sued for reading a manuscript and providing feedback and edits, then that person will need some compensation upfront for taking that risk. I might as well as just hire a professional editor if I am going to pay for feedback.

That begs the question, what exactly makes someone a professional editor? Quantity, as in number of manuscripts edited? Is there any way to verify that number? Number of positive reviews? In the age of AI, how difficult is it to generate a high number of reviews in seconds or minutes or even twenty-four hours? Information on the internet is getting to a point where I have decided to rise to the challenge of writing and editing my books from start-to-finish myself.

If others can do it, then why can’t I? AI might sharpen my writing and editing skills after all!