AI makes editors read the writer as well as the text
A commissioning editor at The Hindu discusses the challenges of identifying AI-generated content in submissions. The author argues that AI-polished text lacks human rhythm and warns that reliance on AI detection tools can lead to false positives that harm legitimate contributors.
Why it matters
This highlights the growing tension between AI-assisted productivity and the preservation of authentic human expression in professional journalism.
I’m a commissioning editor. Every day, I receive more submissions of articles written by AI than the last. The same goes for articles polished by AI. More than going against The Hindu ’s policy, this habit has the potential to corrode the human practice of writing.
Writing is often hard. You consider the relationship between your intentions and the meaning of words laid down on a page. You think through using the many degrees of freedom a sentence or paragraph affords to convey precisely what you mean, down to the feeling, while also holding readers’ attention and doing justice to yourself without becoming self-absorbed. Writing should trouble the mind. AI-made or -polished writing offers to take this trouble away — a temptation to be resisted.
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