AI is making everyone sound the same
AI can make your writing better and more generic at the same time. In a 2024 study published in Science Advances, Anil Doshi and Oliver Hauser found that people who used AI ideas wrote short stories rated as more creative and better written, but those stories ended up more similar to each other. For a business owner, that's the trade-off to watch: AI can polish your content right into sounding like everybody else's.
You've seen it. You're scrolling, and every post starts the same way. "Here's the thing nobody tells you about..." Every caption has three short lines and an emoji. Every email says "I hope this finds you well." It all reads fine. And none of it sounds like a person.
I use AI in my business every single day, so this isn't an anti-AI post. It's a "don't let it take your voice" post.
What the research found
Anil Doshi and Oliver Hauser asked about 300 people to write short stories. Some wrote on their own. Others could get a story idea from AI, either one idea or up to five. Then readers judged the stories.
The AI-assisted stories were rated as more creative, better written, and more enjoyable. The biggest boost went to the people who weren't naturally strong writers. That fits what we've seen in other research on who AI helps most.
But here's the catch. The AI-assisted stories were more similar to each other. Each writer did better on their own, but as a group, they all started to sound alike.
The researchers called it a kind of social dilemma. Each person is better off using AI. But if everyone does, everything blends together.
Why this matters for your business
Your clients don't hire you because you write a perfect paragraph. They hire you because of how you think, what you've seen, and how you say it.
If your newsletter, your website, and your posts all sound like they came out of the same machine as your competitor's, you just gave away the one thing nobody can copy.
I see this with clients who start using AI for content. The first month, they're thrilled. They're posting more than ever. By month three, they tell me engagement dropped and they can't figure out why. Then we read a few posts out loud, and they laugh. "That doesn't sound like me at all."
How to use AI without losing your voice
Start with your own material. A story from this week. Something a client said. A mistake you made. AI can't make those up, and those are what people remember.
Give it your voice. Paste in a few things you've written that sound like you and tell it to match them. Treat it the way you'd brief a new hire, not a vending machine.
Use it as an editor, not an author. "Make this shorter" and "what's unclear here?" keep you in charge. "Write me a post about productivity" doesn't.
Cut the AI tells. "Here's the thing." "Let's dive in." "It's not just X, it's Y." If you'd never say it out loud, delete it.
Read it out loud before you post. If you stumble or cringe, rewrite that part in your own words.
The bottom line
Use AI to get faster. Don't use it to get blander. The parts of your content that sound most like you are the parts doing the most work.
If you want someone keeping you consistent with content that actually sounds like you, here's how I coach.
Frequently asked questions
Does AI make writing more generic?
It can. In Doshi and Hauser's 2024 study, AI-assisted stories were rated better individually but were more similar to each other as a group.
How can I make AI-written content sound like me?
Start with your own stories and examples, give the AI samples of your writing to match, use it mostly for editing, and read the result out loud before you publish.
Should small business owners use AI for content?
AI can save time and improve drafts, especially for people who don't enjoy writing. The key is keeping your own experiences, opinions, and phrasing in the final version.
Sources: Doshi, A. R., & Hauser, O. P. (2024). Generative AI enhances individual creativity but reduces the collective diversity of novel content. Science Advances, 10(28).
