Lately, writing tools are everywhere you look. ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Grammarly... all those tools are capable of producing large bodies of text that could be useful for PMs in their work.
What could those tools write? You name it!
- Project briefs and overviews
- User stories and specs
- Reports and analysis
- How-to manuals and documentation
- Test cases and acceptance criteria
- Positioning docs and marketing copy
- Press releases and ads
How well do those tools write?
It depends on your definition of "well". The output you get is formally correct. For example, if you ask ChatGPT to write you a user story based on a short description with a few important keywords, it will generate a structurally correct user story and even "creatively" contribute if your prompt was too brief. You can then refine the output very easily by asking it to add more text or subtract, or change format (from user story to jobs-to-be-done story). Some PMs would take the output from the gen AI and send it to their engineers. And that's where the biggest issue lies.It's not about writing but thinking
Writing is not a process of putting words in order. Well, not only. Writing is a process of recording your thinking in words that happen to be in order so that other people understand your thinking. The keywords here are your and thinking.Only you know who you are writing for. Usually, PMs write for their peers. We write for engineers, designers, executives... and not any engineers, designers, executives, but real people that we know, or should know. As PMs, we should know how our audience prefers to consume information - some people are happy to read, others need a picture, another always goes for a meeting... Those differences matter a lot, and knowing them is what differentiates the best PMs from the rest.
When you outsource your writing completely to a gen AI tool, you lose your competitive edge - knowledge of your audience. Gen AI doesn't know what worked last time you communicated with a particular person; it doesn't know the questions they asked or the interpretations they made. So the text gen AI can produce even if it contains the needed information, might still fail to achieve your goal - the understanding.
Moreover, and it's very subjective, many people can spot AI-generated content. They could say generated content is "soulless" or that it just "doesn't sound like you". Be careful, as for some people, your usage of gen AI could appear disrespectful. You might hurt your relationships with peers and stakeholders if you're not sensitive to their reactions to gen AI.
Some uses of generative AI writing tools to consider
Fully outsourcing your writing to gen AI is not a good idea. However, these tools could still be quite useful for PMs.
To fight "blank canvas" fear
For some people, the hardest thing in writing is to start. The blank canvas staring at you, making you freeze. If this happens to you, ask AI to write the first draft and then refine it. Even if you end up rewriting the entire thing, there's still value in you getting unblocked faster.To explore alternatives
There are a thousand ways to communicate the same information. AI can give you ideas you haven't considered before. When you've written a piece, ask AI to make it shorter or longer, see how it reads. You can ask AI to change the tone of voice or even change prose into verse or into images.To get past the writer's block
Sometimes, you just can't write. The words just won't come out; you find a million and one distractions and end up frustrated. It's a very common problem for even professional writers. How could Gen AI help? By talking to you. Literally, all modern Gen AI tools have voice mode. Instead of forcing yourself into writing, chat with the AI, walk around, switch context. You'll still have the transcript afterwards, and it might become the source of your first draft.To be your personal editor
One way writing tools could help you is to avoid obvious blunders in your writing. This is especially useful if you're writing not in your native tongue. Modern Gen AI tools are much better at editing and finding issues in your text than classical grammar checkers. And as an entry-level editor, Gen AI can help you understand if your text is clear, if it's conveying the meaning you intended and whether there might be other ways to communicate the same information.Gen AI writing tools for PMs
There are plenty of tools for you to try. ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, NotebookLM, Co-pilot, Grammarly, Notion… all those tools are giving you more or less the same output, so pick according to personal preference. One important thing to consider though, is privacy and handling of sensitive or confidential information. Whatever tool you want to use, make sure your organisation is cool with you using it. Most companies will have a policy on AI usage by employees. Likewise, some employees will use AI tools no matter the policies their employers might have.Final thoughts
Gen AI writing tools might help individual PMs to be more efficient and creative. They could be very helpful for those of us who don't like to write but have to, for work. Using those tools to get more done is a good idea, but be careful not to overly rely on AI. As a PM, your main job is solving for humans, and to solve for humans, you need to understand them. Writing, AI-assisted or not, is just one way to work better together with your peers and achieve your goals.This post was written without AI help, btw. Except for a little spelling help from Grammarly 💗