Are you looking for a technical writer who is on board with using AI to speed up projects? I could be the right person for the job.
I’ve taken courses in AI, used AI on projects, and have worked for clients who are heavily involved in AI. But at the same time, I’m cautious of its potential impact on society and the environment and mindful of copyright issues.
But like it or not, it seems to be here to stay and there’s no denying it can be helpful in many ways.
Can I use AI to create your documentation? Yes, but it’s important to set the expectation levels at the start. A better description is that I can use AI to help create your documentation, because relying on AI alone is not a good idea for several reasons:
AI can make up information that is incorrect (AI can hallucinate)
AI relies on the information that’s available either on the internet or that you provide. Bad or low quality information going in means poor quality information coming out.
AI might not have up-to-date information about your industry or the nuances of your product.
AI may produce content that’s repetitive and poorly structured.
AI can produce content that contains copyright material, possibly even content from your competitors.
Commercially-sensitive information could be exposed or used to train the AI model.
Obviously, you want content that is accurate, reliable, well-written, easy to navigate*, ethical and legal. AI cannot do that, but it can provide a shortcut, and that’s how I use AI in my projects.
However you intend to use AI for technical documentation, it’s important that you have the content it creates checked by a human. Also, the better the quality of the information you feed to AI, the better the quality of the output. That’s where I can help. As your technical writer, I can make sure you have high quality content for your AI to consume. I can also check and correct the content it creates.
The learning curve is less daunting with AI. I can use it to quickly learn the basics of your industry and your typical customers.
Got a style guide? With AI, it is much easier and quicker to make sure your content is following the rules.
If there’s enough info available, generating a first draft with AI can save time. Sometimes it is better to start from scratch though!
Checking for grammar and jargon, making sure information is clear and suitable for the audience, spotting gaps in the information …
I use AI to generate sample content to use in examples and screenshots. Its also good for coming up with use case scenarios.
Mostly I’ll use AI to improve the quality of product images and remove backgrounds. I don’t think it is good enough for diagrams yet.
AI saves me a lot of time and frustration with creating samples and fixing CSS, HTML, etc. I’ve also used it for conversions.
Stuck in two minds about something? I ask ChatGPT for advice. It can advice which version is easier to read, for example.
I’m a risk averse person, so fully understand if you are concerned about AI. Depending on your requirements, I’m happy to:
✅ Follow your company’s AI guidelines
✅ Remove sensitive data
✅ Only use AI for non-sensitive tasks
✅ Use a private LLM
✅ Configure the LLM to not use your info for training
✅ Not use AI at all
As a general rule, “Is this information already available on the internet?” is my starting point when asking AI questions. I’m also aware that I shouldn’t include any information that is private, proprietary, or confidential.
My approach, by default, is:
Use AI for research, keep it generic
Only use AI for content if I am sure the information is already public. Even then, aim to:
Remove all references to names, products, people, places, proprietary concepts and confidential information.
Make sure chat history is off or use anonymously.
Vanderbilt University
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Cherryleaf
Google Cloud
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Google Cloud
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Google Cloud | Coursera
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Google Cloud
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