Writing with AI: What Works, What Doesn't and How to Use It | Janna Stevens

AI can give you words. But it can't give you judgment. This episode is a live recording from Localist Lab, the free monthly marketing event series for small business owners in Birmingham. Janna Stevens, Communications Director at Infomedia, takes the stage to walk a live audience through writing with AI. Janna is a career writer. She has spent years honing grammar, voice and style. She talks about what AI is actually good at, where it falls short, and how to use it without losing your voice. Janna covers where AI helps: beating blank page paralysis, drafting structured writing, repurposing content, editing for length, grammar checks, document summarization, research and brainstorming. She also covers where it falls short: average output, flattening your voice, not knowing your audience, sameness across the internet, and the iteration loop that often takes longer than just writing it yourself. Then she shares practical tips for getting better AI output, including building richer prompts, asking AI to critique instead of create, and deleting the first paragraph almost every time. If you've been wondering how to use AI for your small business writing without sounding like everyone else, this is a clear and honest guide from a writer who is using it every day. ___________________________________ Mentioned in This Episode Claude (AI assistant) Claude Cowork ChatGPT Google Gemini NotebookLM Pam Darden's SEO for the AI Era talk at Localist Lab Luke Richey email marketing episode of The Localist Uptick Marketing Tempo Websites Infomedia Studios _______________________________________________________________________________ Thanks to Our Sponsor, Infomedia The Localist is sponsored by Infomedia, a Birmingham-based web and digital marketing company that helps small businesses get big results online. Contact Infomedia: https://infomedia.com/contact ________________________________________________________________________________ Join Us at Localist Lab Localist Lab is our free live marketing event series for small business owners, held on the third Thursday of most months at Saturn in Avondale. Each session features practical strategies you can use right away, plus free tacos and coffee. See upcoming events and register https://infomedia.com/events ________________________________________________________________________________ Subscribe to Carrie's Newsletter Get more small business insights, resources and behind-the-scenes updates from Carrie delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for the newsletter: https://gmail.us20.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=9c59a060684d71f12f6e495fc&id=98cd3122b9