Writing in the Age of AI: Why It's More Important Than Ever

The true value of writing

🏷️ Categories: Writing, Learning.

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In a world where artificial intelligence can write for us — and does so in seconds — it seems logical to ask: does it still make sense to learn how to write well?

Pessimistic voices haven’t taken long to chime in.

That AI will replace almost all of us. That it’s no longer worth it to write, paint, take photos, or do anything artistic, because algorithms will do it better, cheaper, and faster.

But today, I’m here to tell you the opposite.

Writing has never been more important than it is right now.

Yes, even when AI can write a best-seller in minutes.

If you’re tired of everything sounding the same, if you’ve tried ChatGPT and feel like its texts are accurate but empty — keep reading. You’ll see why writing remains a crucial skill, and how it can even make you more valuable as a professional.

Let’s get into it.

The Power of Writing

Writing is learning what you know (and what you don’t know).

There’s a paradox in writing: when you write something you think you understand, you also uncover everything you thought you understood but actually don’t. The written page becomes a mirror reflecting your knowledge — your structure, your clarity of explanation, your level of detail, your unresolved gaps… all of it reveals your understanding.

Writing is, essentially, applying the Feynman technique on paper.

You try to explain an idea and suddenly realize:

— “I don’t actually get this.”

And then you start researching what the blank page has revealed. You begin connecting dots, better understanding what you previously left incomplete, and reasoning through these ideas you now write again on paper.

This process makes you smarter.

Studies like Pervaiz et al. (2025) show that writing reinforces conceptual understanding — regardless of the subject. That’s indispensable for any student, professional, curious person, or autodidact.

This very text you’re reading is a clear example of that process in me.

As John Warner put it (Gilliam, 2025):

“Speed and efficiency are not educational values. When it comes to learning, what matters is the learning itself.”

Despite all AI’s promises to boost speed and efficiency, education and skill development still require time and effort. No matter how efficient learning mechanisms become, the learning process will always demand slowing down.

The constant acceleration we live in makes us impatient.

But some things, by their very nature, can’t (and shouldn’t) be rushed.

Writing Trains You in Critical Thinking and Communication

There’s a crucial difference between writing and just stringing words together.

Writing requires analysis, evaluation, and synthesis. It teaches you to choose what to say and how to say it. I often say that writing is “speaking in text,” because anyone who can clearly articulate their thoughts on paper can just as clearly articulate them in speech. Writing trains you in essential skills.

Writing helps you learn, remember, think, and communicate better.

It trains the most atrophied muscle of the 21st century: critical thinking.

And the latest research backs this up.

In a study by Microsoft involving over 300 knowledge workers and more than 900 different task types, a worrying pattern emerged... The greater the trust in AI, the lower the critical thinking (Lee et al., 2025).

That’s right — the more others think for you, the less you question the information you consume.

More Text Doesn’t Mean More Value

We are surrounded — flooded, really — by content. But how much of it actually says something? The widespread use of tools like ChatGPT is saturating the web with text that sounds good but lacks substance. Anyone who’s heard a political speech knows what it’s like to say a lot and mean little.

That’s exactly what’s happening online right now, every second.

The signal-to-noise ratio is breaking down.

In this sea of AI-generated info, clear thinkers win.

Those who can say something true, original, precise — stand out. I’m not against AI — quite the opposite. Those who are experts in their field will multiply their output with high-quality results (Carucci, 2024).

• Just like a sculptor with a better chisel.

• Just like a painter with higher quality paints.

• Just like a photographer with a digital camera.

Technological advances benefit those who already master their craft.

• A great sculptor becomes extraordinary with better tools.

• A great painter becomes extraordinary with better paint.

• A great photographer becomes extraordinary with better cameras.

Because experts in any field know how to spot mistakes. They know exactly what makes a sculpture, a painting, or a photo beautiful. They know what they want, what they don’t want, and can explain it with absolute clarity.

AI is a tool — like the chisel, the paint, or the digital camera.

Only those who invest in their skills and knowledge will be able to unlock the tool’s full potential. Those who believe AI can do everything for them will become even more manipulable. As the data shows: those with greater confidence in their own judgment are more critical thinkers when using AI (Lee et al., 2025).

In the age of AI, where everything seems easy, writing remains difficult.
And that’s precisely what makes it so valuable.

It’s the difference between copying and thinking.
Between following and leading.

When you write, you’re forced to understand, to synthesize, to uncover what you don’t know, to organize your ideas, and to bring clarity where there was only confusion.

And that clarity, in a noisy world, is pure gold.

So yes, AI can write faster than you.

But you, if you know how to write well, can think better.
And that will make you stand out — valuable and irreplaceable.

Nothing more to say.

✍️ Now it’s your turn: What skills do you think will be most valuable in a future flooded with auto-generated content?

💭 Quote of the day: “After all, robots are just a tool that can help humanity progress more quickly by taking some of the burden of calculations and interpretations off our shoulders. The human brain’s task remains the same as always: to discover new data to analyze and come up with new concepts to test.”
— Isaac Asimov, The Evitable Conflict

See you in the next one! 👋

References 📚

1. Carucci, R. (2024). In the age of AI, critical thinking is more needed than ever. Forbes. URL

2. Gilliam, B. (2025). Council Post: Why writing remains a vital skill in the age of AI. Forbes. URL

3. Lee, H.P., Sarkar, A., Tankelevitch, L., Drosos, I., Rintel, S., Banks, R., & Wilson, N. (2025). The impact of generative AI on critical thinking: Self-reported reductions in cognitive effort and confidence effects from a survey of knowledge workers. URL

4. Pervaiz, N. H., Ali, N. K., Razzaq, N. S., & Tariq, N. M. (2025). The Impact of Ai on Critical Thinking and Writing Skills in Higher Education. ˜The œCritical Review Of Social Sciences Studies, 3(1), 3165-3176. URL