AI can write your post. You still need something to say.

LinkedIn is getting tired of AI-written posts. Which is quite an achievement on a platform where humans were already perfectly capable of turning a delayed flight into five lessons about leadership.

CNN reports that LinkedIn is reducing the reach of generic, low-quality AI content. Polished posts, neatly structured, apparently professional—and somehow completely empty.

Fair enough. I don’t particularly want to read another post that takes six paragraphs to tell me collaboration is important.

But I still think we need to use AI. And, more importantly, learn how to work with it.

The trouble starts when “I have something to say” becomes “I need something to post.” Open a chatbot, ask for a compelling take on whatever is trending, copy the result, publish. Congratulations, the internet has more words now.

What did anyone get out of it?

For me, the starting point has to be something of our own. An opinion, an experience, a question we haven’t figured out yet. Something we noticed that doesn’t quite fit the usual explanation. We don’t need a groundbreaking discovery every time we open LinkedIn. But we should probably bring more than a request for three punchy paragraphs and a strong hook.

Otherwise, we’re asking AI to produce another version of the ideas and patterns it has already learned. Then we publish it as our contribution to the conversation. A slightly strange arrangement when you think about it.

Bring an actual point

Bring an actual point, though, and there’s plenty AI can help with.

I can put a messy thought into words and ask where the argument falls apart. I can explore another perspective, ask for an explanation, or find that the thing I was so confident about five minutes ago needs a little more work. Sometimes trying to explain what the AI got wrong helps me understand what I meant in the first place.

That back-and-forth takes effort. You have to read the response, judge it, disagree with parts of it, check things and make decisions. A beautifully written paragraph might still deserve to be deleted because it says absolutely nothing you believe.

The learning matters

We’re well past the point where knowing a clever prompt should count as knowing how to work with AI. We need to understand enough about the subject to recognise a weak answer, and enough about the tool to know that a confident one can still be wrong. We also need to stay curious long enough to get past the first convenient response.

Ideally, I leave that process with a better piece of writing and a clearer understanding of my own point. Maybe even a changed mind. That seems like a pretty good use of the technology.

Of course, learning takes longer than clicking “generate.” There goes the dream of becoming a thought leader during the kettle’s warm-up cycle.

I understand why people take the shortcut. An empty text box can be intimidating, especially when you have something useful to share but writing doesn’t come easily. AI can help people get past that. I’d hate for the reaction to low-quality content to make them feel they have to struggle through every