AI and tenders: have we lost the art of writing?

Chelsea Steele, Senior Tender Specialist (Brisbane)

I’ve read a few LinkedIn posts lately on the tell-tale signs of Artificial Intelligence or AI-generated writing, or LLM (Large Language Model) writing. According to the original poster, the giveaways of AI writing are the repeated use of words such as ‘this perspective’, ‘intriguing’, ‘empowerment’, ‘fundamentally’, ‘sophisticated’, and also the incorrect use of en dashes (–) vs em dashes ­(—).

No surprises there, LinkedIn is where you’ll find the for, against and everything-in-between opinions on how AI is changing the writing landscape. But what got me thinking was one reply to a post that said “Honestly, I just find it sad. I would rather read something human, genuine and badly written than anything written by AI.” And I’d have to agree.

I’d much rather read content that’s been written by a living person with feelings that can translate their life experience into words rather than read anything generated by a machine that’s been trained to understand context, grammar and semantics. So I felt a tinge of sadness too.

A tinge of sadness because it got me thinking: is our future workplace going to be fully reliant on the power of generative AI for the most basic of writing we need? Will AI become as integrated into our workdays as MS Office and email? Is AI writing going to reduce us to a content culture of ‘same-sameness’? (Thanks to my colleague Zoe!)

As humans, are we standing on the precipice of the lost art of writing?

The poster’s comment stopped me enough to think about the why behind this comment. Which led me to start reflecting on ‘the art’ in the art of writing, and what sat in the space between human writing and anything written by AI.

Peter Yang, one of my favourite authors, sums up the art of writing in his book, The Art of Writing: Four Principles for Great Writing that Everyone Needs to Know. He says, “Writing must be considered not through the lenses of strict scientific analysis, but through the lenses of an interpreter of art. It is, ultimately, an artistic pursuit, and should be treated as such, whether your end goal is to create a true work of art or simply a well-crafted email.”

Touché.

So, what makes an artistic writer? I, along with Yang believe that: “Artistic writers are meticulous in their work, Artistic writers are cognisant of their audience’s values, Artistic writers are sincere to their readers, Artistic writers are not obsessed with perfection, and Artistic writers are flexible with the four principles that are a must for great writing - economy, transparency, variety and harmony.”

Yang has listed attributes that AI will never feel.

As human writers we excel at the art of storytelling because we can engage, and we can write what’s relatable. And as humans, we also love to hear a story. When considering the art of writing in tender writing, let’s think about your narrative. Your narrative is the invisible thread that stitches all the returnable schedules together and is your story, your value proposition, you putting your best foot forward. It’s the end game in how your tender win themes are presented and will be evaluated. And telling a persuasive story on how you can demonstrate that not only can you meet the specification, but that the way you will meet it will provide great benefits is at the crux of winning competitive business.

As a professional writer who has worn different writing hats over the years, the reason why I write, and why I enjoy writing, is to engage and connect. To engage with and connect with my audience on a level that only I can bring to my writing, as there’s only one individual and one human me. Whether that be connecting and engaging through writing blogs, tender writing, news articles, press releases, website content, external or internal communications, the list goes on. And although the audiences and formats I write for may shift, my why remains unchanged. It’s the connection that fills my (human) cup.

My writing is genuine and authentic. It’s creative, strategic, unique and emotionally intelligent. It’s human. And as intelligent as ChatGPT, Claude, Grammarly, Gemini and the many specialised AI-writing apps are out there for whatever purpose you desire, these LLM tools can mimic, but will never replace what’s written with personality, understanding and human ingenuity. This is the magic in storytelling.

To circle back to my original question, are we standing on the precipice of the lost art of writing? I believe no. AI doesn’t understand the nuances of the tender process, can’t read between the lines or anticipate potential challenges. Our human quality in writing can’t be lost, or taken over by AI because AI can’t compete with the human brain for storytelling. Yet.

We offer tender writing and tender consulting services nationwide. And it’s all done by the very human humans of Tender Plus! To find out more, send Deb an email.