Transparency as the foundation of trust
Hello dear reader-friends. In a media landscape increasingly saturated with AI-generated content, I believe that AI transparency is central to trust between writer and reader.
To me, writing is not just a function of stringing words together. It is a form of expression integral to my human experience.
I have put pen to paper nearly daily since I was 12 years old. Not as deliberate practice. Not as designed ritual. As the pulse of lifeforce moving through me — as natural and unstoppable as breathing.
Writing is a medium for storytelling, bridge building, and meaning making. Words shape thinking that can only spring from lived experience.
Words have the power to create worlds.
The act of creation is deeply human.
I refuse to give up my humanness for the sake of efficiency, or out of sheer laziness. The struggle, the mess, the imperfection — all bring texture and flavor to this process. They are hallmarks of human presence.
Without human presence, written content falls towards entertainment and distraction. It can only feed us empty calories. There would be no real nourishment here, for me as writer, or for you as reader.
Yet there are myriad benefits from collaborating with AI as an assistant.
How I work with AI and what I use it for:
Editing. Tightening language. In my case, often reducing verbosity and removing redundancy. Also, flagging (not filling) reasoning gaps.
Formatting. Consolidating my revision decisions into clean output.
Excerpting. Pulling out the sharpest ideas and lines from a longer piece.
Repurposing. Formatting existing work to serve a different medium.
What I do not use AI for:
Generating: Writing new sentences by mimicking my voice or style.
Adding: Inserting context, examples, or ideas that I didn’t originate.
Smoothing. Turning unique phrasing into conventionally polished prose.
What I will disclose, piece by piece
Starting July 2026, each essay will include a boilerplate listing the specific tasks that AI was engaged in to support that particular piece of writing. For example: No AI was used in writing this essay. It was human-crafted, end to end. Claude was consulted only for title selection, cutting redundancies, and untangling my mixed metaphors. All thoughts are mine.
I will return to update this AI policy page periodically — if and when my way of working with AI tools changes.
Until the next evolution,
Yours in love and truth,
Wendy