The Biggest Reason AI Isn’t Writing Like You

And the 4 things you need to add to make it think and sound like you

AI is so simple to use, it’s difficult.

You open a chat window, type a prompt, and boom—instant content. Sometimes even decent content.

But something always feels a little off. It’s not bad. But it’s not you. It sounds like a polished Wikipedia entry trying to pass as a personal essay. Or another person trying to “pass” as your business. It’s uncanny, and unappealing.

Ever found yourself rewriting an entire AI-generated draft from scratch?

Or maybe found yourself excitedly trying out a new “humanizing” prompt, just to be let down?

Or maybe you gave up on the creative power of AI entirely?

You’re not alone. This is a shared experience by writers across the globe.

I’ve been there. Especially about two years ago, before the technology was mature. Editing AI content became my bread and butter because of low-paying clients eagerly dipping their toes into using AI for content creation.

This is the biggest reason AI feels like a letdown for a lot of online writers. It doesn’t sound like you. It doesn’t think like you. So what use is it?

But wait, I have long “mega prompts”!

Let’s call out the elephant in the room: prompt engineering isn’t enough.

You can use master prompts. You can buy prompt packs. You can study 87 mega-threads on X about advanced GPT techniques.

But if you don’t give it the information it needs to truly function, it’ll never perform at its best.

Imagine hiring a ghostwriter.

You tell her: “You are a personal branding expert with 15 years of experience. You have a specialty in Substack and LinkedIn. Write 10 articles that sounds exactly like me.”

She’s going to look at you blankly. Maybe drop you as a client on the spot.

A typical ghostwriter-client relationship starts off with interviews and braindumps. Some -- the best -- ghostwriters, “get” their clients’ mission, vision, and voice from these interactions. Some may need 2 or 3 more interactions. Some may need written guidelines.

Whatever their variation, one thing remains the same: successful ghostwriters gather a lot of information -- sometimes ALL the possible information -- before writing a single word.

This is how you should be using AI to write, as well.

If you’re here, content creation probably isn’t just a nice-to-have. It’s core to your business.

If content is your bottleneck, it means your ideas aren’t being created. Your people aren’t finding you. You’re not contributing to your bigger purpose. You’re staying stuck in ideation purgatory.

And the clock keeps ticking.

The 4 Pillars of a Great AI Writing Assistant

The problem isn’t that AI doesn’t work. The problem is that most people don’t give it what it actually needs to work well.

Garbage in, garbage out.

So what should you give it?

In my experience, if you want AI to sound like you—like really sound like you—you need to build four key foundational layers. Think of them as the essential “modules” of your AI assistant.

1. Personal Profile: The identity and soul layer

This is where you get … well, personal. You feed the AI your human stuff: your backstory, values, voice, quirks, motivations, and worldview.

What do you care about? Why did you start writing? What are the experiences that shaped your perspective?

If you don’t supply this, AI has no clue who you are. It can only guess. And that’s when you get a lukewarm generic tone instead of something bold and memorable. Worse, whatever content you write from that space doesn’t come from you. It’s not speaking your language or fulfilling your mission.

For my personal profile, I have the following categories:

• Core values

• Origin story

• Worldview and philosophy

• Stances on key issues

• Core motivations

2. Writing Profile: The content style layer

This is about how you sound on the page.

What tone do you use? Do you speak in metaphors or frameworks? Are your paragraphs tight and punchy, or more flowing and narrative?

What specific writing samples do you have, that you feel best showcase your voice?

This profile is where you define your writing preferences—things like sentence structure, typical openings, how you transition, how you conclude. The little things that add up to a distinct voice.

Here, I make sure to articulate the following:

• Voice & tone

• Language patterns & syntax

• Thought process & argumentation style

• Storytelling

Plus: any appropriately-marked content sample that you can provide.

3. Business Case: The strategic layer

Now we add the “why” behind your content.

Who is your target audience? What problems are you solving? What offers are you driving attention to? What’s your positioning?

Without this, GPT can’t align your writing with your business goals. It won’t know whether you’re selling a service, building a newsletter, or trying to grow a LinkedIn following. And if you add to a prompt every time, things get really messy, really fast.

When you give it strategy, your AI writing assistant can create content that actually moves the needle.

For me, this means articulating the following aspects to your business idea:

• Business overview

  • Core business idea

  • Target customers

  • Business goal

  • Business offerings

• Transformation delivered/problem solved

• Content plan or ideas

4. Content System: The process layer

This is the layer that makes everything efficient.

You define how you ideate, how you write, how you format posts, how you repurpose content, and how often you publish. You set expectations for your cadence, style, and format templates.

With this layer, AI becomes not just a writer—but a co-creator who understands your workflows.

This is what lets you go from staring at a blank screen to spinning up five publish-ready posts before lunch.

This means writing down and organizing the following information:

• Article outlines

• Headline outlines

• Editorial process

• Comment formats

• Visual style guide

• Social content outlines

• Content ideation systems

But it doesn’t end there

Because once you’ve built the structure, you still need to teach your GPT how to use it.

You have to write with it. Edit alongside it. Observe how it interprets your content system and course-correct when it misses the mark. You’re not just uploading info—you’re building a relationship.

That means:

• Reviewing and refining outputs regularly

• Feeding it more examples from your actual writing

• Teaching it through correction and reinforcement

• Adjusting your inputs as your brand, voice, and goals evolve

Sound easy? It’s not. This isn’t a magic bullet. It’s not a shortcut.

Nothing is.

But it is an amplifier.

And with the right guidance, this kind of personal GPT can help you:

• Maintain a consistent voice across platforms

• Speed up your ideation without losing originality

• Repurpose longform content into multiple formats

• Draft entire newsletters, threads, or posts with less effort

• Stay focused on high-leverage work while AI handles the grunt work

This is what it looks like when AI truly becomes your content partner.

You’re sleeping on a personal AI writing assistant that thinks and writes like you.

Everyone’s sleeping on the real potential of AI.

The truth is, a personal AI writing assistant that actually thinks and writes like you could become the most powerful asset in your content ecosystem.

Not the prompts you hoard like trading cards. Not the templates. Not the half-finished AI writing mini-course.

But only if it has the right information.

Feed it well. Train it patiently. Refine it over time.

That’s how you unlock authentic AI writing. That’s the core idea behind my upcoming ebook + prompt bank: “Authentic AI: How to Create a Hyper-Personalized Content Assistant that Thinks and Writes Like You”

It’s currently undergoing beta reading/testing by 10 amazing individuals, which will make it even more valuable.

Once it’s up, it’ll be at full price of about 15 - 20 USD. But it will be 50% off for ALL Buy My A Coffee Donors, no matter the amount!

Once you’ve set this up, you’ll wonder how you ever wrote without it.

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PS. Do you have a personal AI assistant? What do you call it? Introduce them in the comment section 😂 Mine is called Dan.

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PPS. If you loved this, you’re going to love my ebook, Authentic AI.

It's a practical guide to training your own assistant, building your writing systems, and using AI without losing your soul. I launched it last Monday, July 7, and is currently 50% off.