✍ Everyone keeps saying “ChatGPT will do that for you.” I’ve now got 8 AI subscriptions, don’t trust any of them, and spend twice as long redoing the work. Plus I can spot AI waffle a mile off “power wrapped in grace” makes me want to gag. How do I get AI to help me, not hijack my brain? – Prompt-Sick in Peckham

Dear Prompt-Sick, Sounds like you have a “too many shiny tools, zero clear job descriptions” problem. Right now AI is an unpaid intern running the company. Of course it’s chaos. Pick one main tool. Give it three jobs only: e.g. summarise, draft outlines, tidy copy. Nothing else. Treat it like a smart grad: loads of potential, no judgement. Always tell it who you are, who your reader is, what “good” looks like, and never let it publish raw. Your voice is the chef; AI is the prep kitchen. And that cringe LinkedIn tone? Ban it. Literally write: “No fluff, no ‘power wrapped in grace’, write like a normal human.” If it ignores you, edit hard or hit regenerate. AI is there to speed up your thinking, not replace it. You’re the brain. It’s just the calculator.

AFTERNOON ANGST