AI OR NO AI?
That isn't the question, especially when it comes to writing.

I know another piece about AI, right? Well, sort of.
I’ve seen so many debates and conversations about AI and writing lately. I’ve read articles from the supporters, the ones who don’t give a shit, the purists who say that AI has no place in writing at all, and the ayatollahs who think it’s the end of modern civilization. For fuck’s sake, relax.
So I thought I needed to bring a different perspective, one I have not seen so far. Even if nobody cares, I’ll give my opinion anyway.
But don’t scroll just yet; you never know, you might find it interesting.

Let me first say I use AI. There. I said it. Now that’s out of the way; perhaps we can talk about it like reasonable adults.
I don’t lie about it; I don’t hide it, and to tell you the truth, I don’t feel guilty about it.
First, because I am not making a living out of it; I am not chasing any prize or pretending to write bestsellers or trying to convince anybody that I am one of those misunderstood, cursed geniuses. And I self-publish. I write for the sheer satisfaction of it. I love it. And because it has become sort of an urge. A pressure valve to release stuff I have in my head, in my heart, or, worse, in my guts. So I have nothing to gain or to lose by explaining my position. If nothing else, to participate in the conversation and to have the pleasure of writing another article.

For a very long time, I thought writing was reserved for intellectuals, scientists, journalists, celebrities, historians, and academics. It always has seemed something unattainable for the regular folks like me. So I never gave it a thought.
But Amazon and Apple changed the game; it became more democratic, and it opened a door for the ones who could not pass the publishers’ selection but had something to say. Writing was finally not the sole privilege of a handful of the happy few. Anybody who had a story to tell could, with, of course, a lot of work, abnegation, and commitment, be heard and read. With more or less success and, of course, more or less talent, that is, without it being said.

So let’s take a not-so-random writer…me.
I never intended to write a book. I started writing to get rid of things I had inside me and did not know how to say because I am not much of a talker; I keep things locked in. So it started with a couple of pages. Then a few more came. Then more again. All those little stories were not necessarily connected to one another, but they had something in common. They had spirit, a voice, and if I may, some balls. But it was written like shit.
Trust me, it was painful to read, even for me. It had no structure, no bones; it was so confusing, you could get lost in it. I know I did. In other words, I sucked. It was such a fucking mess that when I reread those short stories about my life, I was not even sure I was reading about myself anymore.

And that’s when I started using AI. Not to find ideas or to just copy and paste its texts or to write while I could have a drink. But I used it as a guide. A teacher, and I have to give the credit where it’s due, a patient one.
Let’s face it, I’m not Hemingway, Ellis, or Kerouac, and I don’t think I have a particular talent for writing; still, my goal was to tell my story in a way that wasn’t boring and, if possible, funny and interesting. Even though my style was unorthodox and raw, it needed some restraints, some guidelines. And as I’ve spent more time in my life in restaurants than at school, I had to learn how to write, not to imitate anybody or to aim for some unrealistic goals, but I needed to understand how to express my thoughts on paper in a manner that could make sense for somebody else other than me.

Oh, something I forgot to mention: I am French. So I write in French. But I live in the US, so it was obvious the book had to be in both languages. Even though I speak fluent English, speaking and writing are not the same. It needed to be fluid and precise, and I don’t express myself the same way in both languages. So as I knew both books would have different energies and different rhythms, I used AI to make a bridge between both books.

And every time I wrote a page, I sent it to ChatGPT, asking it to correct me, to challenge me, and to see how it would have done it. Again, not to copy but to see the difference, to see where my weaknesses were, to see how to emphasize a passage, to see how to raise an emotion, to see if I was repeating myself, to see how not to go too far or overload, and most importantly, to learn how to write, trusting the reader. Because at the beginning, I had the tendency to overexplain everything and then explain the explanation. So I’ve spent hours comparing versions, reading, analyzing, and reworking my pages, rewriting night after night till those stories started to make some sense. Until it eventually felt like a book.

When I released the book, I was hooked, addicted to writing. I needed more, so before I jumped into the second book, I started posting on LinkedIn and Substack, mostly about hospitality, because it’s familiar territory. 30 years and counting working in restaurants. Then I realized I could talk about something else too. So I picked other topics, and little by little I was not ashamed anymore to publish my articles. Not because they were masterpieces, far from it, but I was able to express myself correctly. It was not blurry and confused. And I realized that the more I wrote, the less I used AI.
But I keep it as a tool to check if what I am saying makes sense or if the structure is ok or to spot a repetition or to help me find a better way of expressing something when English gets in the way. And, of course, typos.

One other thing that it helped me a lot with is feedback. When you finish an article and you want an opinion on it. But do you feel confident enough about it to give it to somebody to read?
Me, I was freaking out; I was shitting my pants. And who the hell am I going to give it to anyway?
My daughter? Between texting and social media, she is way too busy.
My wife, wow, thin ice. Does she even care about the subject? Will she be objective?
I’ll tell you what’s going to happen; she’s going to read it and pretend she liked or found it interesting. I’ll smell that something is off, so I will ask her to be specific; she’ll be vague, and then what follows is a conversation that never ends well. I know exactly how this works. Been there, done that.

On the other hand, I am not worried or embarrassed about giving it to AI; it won’t judge. Probably not the most impartial opinion in the room, but at least we will stay on topic, and it will give me a fair enough assessment.
When I look at all the articles I’ve published, some were more interesting than others, some had more success than others, and some… were never read. And I don’t mind. And that’s not the point. What matters is AI helped me achieve a dream. And I am sure I am not the only one.

So all this debate about AI is irrelevant because in the frenzy of detecting AI, we are falling into a trap. All my texts in French are labeled 100% human. But as soon as I test one of my texts in English, I am a fraud.
What the hell? So either this fucktard doesn’t like French people, or I am punished because English is not my mother tongue and I used ChatGPT for idioms or fluidity.
Oh, by the way, I wrote this text in French, and I translated it myself, so if a robot finds that AI got it in between the French version and the English version, it means either I picked up bad habits or your detector is seriously fucked up.

What matters the most is that AI freed a lot of people from the constraints of writing and allowed them to give it a try. Some stopped, some continued, and of course, some cheated. Some will abuse AI. You’ll always find some smart-ass that will copy and paste an article and will publish it on LinkedIn, then slap their name on it. Don’t argue; it’s the national sport on LinkedIn. Also, you will find sleazebags who pretend to have written a book between two beers and have the nerve to call themselves authors.
And let’s be honest here; we’re amongst friends. You can say it. I won’t judge. Come on, don’t tell me you’ve never been stuck on a chapter or an article, completely fucking dry, and asked AI for a little push to get the inspiration going.
Let the one who has never done this throw the first stone.
You can’t find a rock?
Yeah right.
Goddamn hypocrite!

So yes, I will defend the use of AI, because it helps people who are serious about writing to be better at it and to be proud of what they publish. I mean, I kept my first articles; I reread them from time to time. Were they bad? Yeah, sure, awful. I mean it, it was really, really bad. But I can measure the progress I’ve made. I even left them online because even if they were flawed, they were honest. And that’s what matters.
We need to stop blaming AI for everything and systematically point the finger at the ones who write with it; we just need to use the technology within boundaries. With restraint and ethics. And remember not to blame the tool but the hand behind it.
For instance, I am a chef; I use technology to cook. Am I a lesser chef if I use a probe to check the temperature of the meat?
Am I a fraud because I use a timer or a program to make dishes? No, they make my job a little easier.
And I’ve never seen a guest coming into my kitchen calling me a cheater.

Well, for writing, it’s the same process. Should we forbid ourselves to use a tool that allows us to improve ourselves in something we like and achieve something we can be proud of, just because we are not Capote, Thompson, or Burroughs?
Let’s not kid ourselves. AI doesn’t give you talent or a brain. It’s a crutch. And let’s keep it that way.
It will help you to tell a story that is structured, and maybe, maybe it will allow you to touch someone with it; you’ll make them think, cry, laugh, complain, disagree, or piss them off. That’s what matters.

After all, we should be happy that more books are released, that more people try to write, and most of all, that people read.
To be honest with you, I’d rather read a decent story written by an honest person who used a little bit of AI than a story written by an author inflated by his own ego and bloated by his own certitudes who will talk about things that I don’t give a shit about and will bore me to death with things I don’t understand.
But hey, it’s just me.

See you around next week.

8/17/26

AI OR NOT AI.
That isn't the question, especially when it comes to writing

NEWSLETTER

NO SPAM.
NO SPIN.
THE GOOD STUFF ONLY

Sharp stories, honest conversations, and the occasional badly behaved opinion. Delivered when there’s something worth saying.

BY SIGNING UP, YOU AGREE TO RECEIVE EMAILS FROM FOODNBULLSHIT. UNSUBSCRIBE ANYTIME.

© 2026 FOODNBULLSHIT All rights reserved.

Contact:

alexandrefenot@gmail.com

YOUR SEAT AT THE TABLE STARTS HERE