By Michelle Knight on Writing docs, Tools from September 20, 2024
Imagine having a writing center at your fingertips, with a tireless assistant ready to help you create better articles. This partnership is no longer a dream—it's here, and it's transforming how documentarians work. Welcome to the AI era of documentation.
If you're concerned about AI overshadowing your expertise or compromising your unique voice, rest assured. A good AI writing tool—like the one I use—enhances your capabilities while keeping your content private and preserving your style.
In my journey as a fellow documentarian, I've found that collaborating with an AI writing assistant has not only improved my documentation but also expanded my skills as a writer. Let me walk you through the transformative impact it had on creating this blog post.
First, let's demystify AI, shall we? At its core, an AI writing assistant like the one I use employs generative AI technology.
Think of it as a super-smart pattern recognizer that's read a ton of material. It uses this knowledge to offer suggestions based on what you're writing about.
For example, when I started writing this post, I wanted to make sure it aligned with KnowledgeOwl's content strategy. So, I shared it with my AI writing assistant.
My handy app comes back with a list of key points from the strategy, insights on how my current draft aligned, and areas where I needed to expand. Armed with AI-powered insights, I roll up my sleeves and successfully dive back into my post.
As I reflected on my writing process for this blog, I realized there were several key areas where AI truly shone as a partner in documentation.
Documentation often requires other content to generate ideas, identify gaps, make edits, or verify accuracy. An AI tool can quickly process large amounts of material, such as knowledge base articles. It summarizes key concepts and serves as a springboard for your writing goals.
For example, an AI tool helps summarize key points for DATAVERSITY articles by scanning conference transcripts and interview notes. This AI-generated output highlights areas to include when writing and helps me check my work.
Additionally, the system also provides relevant quotes and returns suggestions on the areas to keep or improve. Sometimes an error pops up in the AI output, such as misspelling of an expert’s name or another inaccuracy.
This result can happen because the inputs to the AI system are incorrect. Other times the AI needs clearer instructions on its task.
So, after receiving this output, check it for errors. If the issue happens because of faulty inputs, correct the error and give the accurate version to the AI algorithm.
Key takeaway: Always verify AI-generated outputs align with original sources.
As documentarians, we often find ourselves writing for various audiences. Oops, I realized the section above was written in more of a DATAVERSITY style. Now I need to switch to the KnowledgeOwl style.
I find writing in a less formal style can be tricky. So, I turned to my AI sidekick for help.
Here's what happened:
The result? A much more reader-friendly post that still conveyed all the important information.
Key takeaway: Don't hesitate to use your AI writing assistant as a sounding board when adapting your content for different audiences.
Beyond audience considerations, I find my AI tool invaluable when facing the initial challenge of getting started. Ever stared at a blank screen, unsure of where to start?
Let me walk you through how used my AI tool for brainstorming in this section:
Then I had a bit of inspiration. I will discuss how I used the AI tool to brainstorm this section. I wrote the section and had AI review it. It comes back reminding me to have an actionable takeaway for this section.
Key Takeaway: When brainstorming with AI, be specific about your goals and constraints to get the most relevant.
As we've seen, partnering with AI in documentation isn't about letting the machine take over. It's about finding that sweet spot where human expertise and AI capabilities complement each other.
Remember, we're still the captains of this ship! Our job is to steer the AI in the right direction by feeding it accurate information and asking the right questions.
While AI can help us adapt our content for different audiences, we need to put on our editor’s hats: verify the facts, add context, and sprinkle in that human touch that makes our writing uniquely ours.
The goal? To create content that's not just good, but also resonates with our readers. By leveraging AI thoughtfully, we can boost our efficiency without sacrificing the quality our audience expects.
Now that we've explored the human-AI partnership in documentation, I hope my fellow documentarians get excited about giving AI a try.
Some ways to get started, include:
The AI-documentarian partnership offers exciting possibilities for enhancing our work. What small step will you take to explore AI's potential in your documentation process?
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