I find it difficult to start letters and emails and end up with overwrought prose that's difficult to read.[1] Knowing this weakness of mine, I instructed ChatGPT to write a request to my doctor last week requesting that we meet to discuss adding a medication to my existing regimen.
The final request was simple, easy to read, and most importantly the process saved me the mental frustration I usually encounter when writing. I'm simply not the best writer as evidenced even now. That's a win in my book by any measure.
This is the bright side of the coin. The dark side is that it's by pushing ourselves that we improve. ChatGPT is going to result in a new equilibrium here...
Right, while I can hack out a few hundred words of passive-aggressive bureaucrat fodder in English in a few minutes, I know people for who, while they have excellent English, that's a huge drain and might take a very miserable hour. I am very, very grateful I've never had to navigate a non-Anglophone bureaucracy.
It is. I’m good at business letters, request emails and memos and have helped many coworkers and friends with them over the years. They are the experts in the domain of their request but wording it effectively isn’t easy for them. This is especially true when emotions are involved. I’ve been happy to provide help with the structure and general wording. But it’s better for them to have a tool that can get them going on a few seconds.
At the same time, expectations around correspondence will change when everyone can generate a decent document. There will still be opportunities to be recognized as an expert writer.
