For 2025, there’s one word I’d already like to ban from everyone’s vocabulary: humanize. I’m done seeing advertisements for tools that claim to humanize text with the click of a button.
Most AI tools that claim to “humanize” AI content work on the premise that human writers are prone to mistakes. Sometimes, these mistakes are just minor grammatical inconsistencies, slight shifts in tone, or idiosyncratic phrasing. Sometimes, they’re downright sloppy typos. Either way, you don’t need to pay for an AI tool to introduce errors into your work.
Interestingly enough, the tendency to rely on looking for mistakes as proof that text is human-generated also leads to students and professional writers being unfairly penalized for their command of the English language or for using tools such as Grammarly to assist in proofreading their work. Check out my post on Why AI Content Detectors Can’t Be Trusted to learn more about the problems associated with AI detectors.
Yes, AI tools can be a wonderful way to boost the productivity of your business. However, using them effectively requires strategic thinking as well as the input of experienced writers who can help you take that “first draft” AI generates and transform it into content that has real value for your target audience.
Let’s take a look at what value experienced human writers bring to the table for 2025 and beyond.
Audience Awareness
Skilled writers strive to create blogs, landing pages, emails, ebooks, and ad copy that suits the needs, preferences, and expectations of their audience. Their understanding of the target audience influences their decisions around tone, vocabulary, and the depth of information provided.
For example, if you’re creating web content to market your services as a professional organizer, you might ask:
- What was the reader’s search intent? (Google doesn’t care if you use AI copywriting tools, but search intent is still vital for SEO.)
- What does the reader already know about the topic?
- What are the reader’s “pain points” that you’re trying to help them solve?
- What information does the reader need to help them make an informed decision about whether or not to use your services?
Organization
Effective writing follows a logical structure that flows smoothly from one idea to the next. In the most basic sense, this means you need a clear introduction, well-developed body paragraphs, and a concise conclusion or call to action. Bonus points for strong transitions and the ability to avoid abrupt topic shifts.
A solid knowledge of prompt engineering can get you about 50% of the way there—maybe 75% if you get lucky. You’ll need a wordsmith to take you over the finish line. (By wordsmith, I mean a writer who is also a competent editor. Not all writers excel at editing, so hire carefully.)
Precision
Readers today have an endless supply of content competing for their attention. They need you to get to the point without unnecessary filler. Every word and sentence needs to serve a purpose.
The Elements of Style, which is essentially a bible for writers, advises us to “Omit needless words.” As author William Strunk explains:
“Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts. This requires not that the writer make all his sentences short, or that he avoid all detail and treat his subjects only in outline, but that every word tells.”
An Engaging Voice and Style
An engaging voice makes your writing come alive. Unfortunately, people who don’t write for a living often struggle to define their voice and style preferences. They know what they like, but need a professional’s guidance to help them understand the “why” behind those preferences.
A writer’s voice reflects their unique personality and is shown through word choice, tone, and rhythm. Creative intuition also plays a role here. Writers—especially the ones who are avid readers—possess an intuitive sense of metaphor, analogy, and storytelling that allows them to convey complex ideas in vivid and unexpected ways. AI tools like ChatGPT and Claude are continuing to evolve, but they’re never going to possess the same level of abstract thinking and imagination an experienced writer brings to the table.
Nailing the appropriate voice and style is vital whenever you’re creating content to reflect your business’s brand.
Rich and Relevant Details
Descriptions, examples, and data support the purpose of your writer and bring ideas to life. Knowing how to find details that are going to resonate with your target audience is where a skilled human writer excels.
Human writing is rich with cultural and social references that ground it in a specific time and place. Writers often incorporate idioms, historical events, pop culture, and shared experiences to create a sense of familiarity and connection. This is a difficult task for any AI to accomplish, especially since AI tools are working with training data that is at least several months old by the time they’re released. If your business is relying on connections to news events or trending topics, there’s no way you’re going to be successful without a human writer on your team.
Emotional Resonance
Great writing evokes emotions—both positive and negative. If you’re creating content with the goal of conveyancing to buy your products or services, you’re not going to get very far unless you can make them feel something—hope, joy, love, anxiety, fear, etc.
AI tools are better at handling facts than evoking emotion. Whether you’re targeting new mothers, busy executives, or recent retirees, working with an experienced human writer will help you create content that resonates with your target audience.
The Ability to Effectively “Break” the Rules
While grammar rules and sentence structure are important, skilled human writers understand when to prioritize meaning and emotional resonance over strict adherence to formal guidelines. Consider a line like, “And then—just like that—everything changed.” The use of dashes and fragmented phrasing creates a dramatic pause that heightens the emotional impact.
Stylistic choices may not align with textbook grammar, but they effectively communicate the writer’s intended message. Head over to Writer’s Digest for a spirited take on when to break the rules of writing.
Purposeful Ambiguity
Building off my last point, life is rarely black and white. AI tools favor tidy resolutions to complex topics, but skilled human writers know how to leave space for interpretation and ambiguity that mirrors the multifaceted nature of human experience.
Not every story needs a tidy resolution. Sometimes, open-ended questions can prompt readers to reflect and form their own conclusions.
Ethical and Thoughtful Expression
Last but not least, writers consider the ethical implications of their words—especially when addressing sensitive topics or marginalized populations. For example, a writer discussing mental health should choose inclusive language that avoids stigmatizing terms. They should help the reader understand what treatment options are available and avoid any phrases that could potentially encourage self-harm or other destructive behaviors.
Thoughtful writing ensures that your message aligns with values such as empathy, fairness, and respect. Skilled human writers strive to create content that is free from unintended bias and avoids perpetuating outdated stereotypes.
Here’s some additional reader to help you better understand how relying on generative AI without human supervision can easily introduce bias into your content.
- Bias of AI-generated content: an examination of news produced by large language models. This study, published in March 2024, found substantial gender and racial biases in AI-generated content being published by major media outlets.
- Humans are biased. Generative AI is even worse. This is from 2023 and about AI image generation, but many of the points it makes are valid in regard to written content as well.
- Addressing bias in AI. Created by the University of Kansas as a guide for educators, this is a detailed examination of the ways bias can creep into generative AI.