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Last Wednesday, I shared an email explaining why you should not write with AI.

A few people replied, saying that I was anti-AI. And I appreciate that I probably sounded a lot like someone refusing to change his horse for one of those ‘new automobile things’.

But I am not anti-AI.

In fact, I use it all day. There’s never been a better time for entrepreneurial writers who hate the idea of having a big team.

I want to build a business with the least amount of friction and resistance possible, so I can focus on doing my best work without burning out.

So I use AI for almost everything. Just not the writing.

Let me explain the strategy.

A quick note: ​​ I’ve been uploading two videos per week to YouTube. It’s been a fun way to share new ideas. If you want to write to grow your business, you’ll love the material. Come join 1000+ subscribers here.

The Barbell AI Strategy

I get AI to do everything except where the human touch matters most: connection. You can visualise this as a barbell:

This strategy achieves three things:

1. It creates more time and space to think, create, and serve your customers, which are the most important things in your business
2. It amplifies your impact by turning what you create into 100x more output
3. It stops you from accidentally turning into a generic-sounding robot clone like everyone else, armed with a Claude prompt

How it looks for me:

I will not let AI touch my newsletter. I may ask it for brief structural notes if I am struggling, or to help find a quote from my notion database. But otherwise, this is my primary mechanism of communication. I want it to be as close as possible to the real me, so that you feel the most affinity.

But shit, I detest doing so much of the other work.

So after I write this newsletter, I put it through a series of prompts:

1. It turns my newsletter into a YouTube script. This includes titles and thumbnail suggestions (pulling ideas from my swipe file). Hooks (from my swipe file). Mid-video CTAs for my lead magnets (it knows all my assets and will write a CTA relevant to the video). And the end CTA for the next video to visit.
2. Once it has created a script, it builds a document in my Notion workflow and tags me for filming. It also creates a to-do for the next step: social media content
3. Claude then repurposes my newsletter into social media posts. It does not write for me, but fixes formatting, hooks and what is worth extracting. An email like this might have 3 social media long-form posts and 5 decent tweets in it. Again, it creates the Notion document and tags my VA Vim to upload across every platform
4. It also pulls out 5 good scripts for short-form video, which we then use Descript to pull from the YouTube video after filming (this is a new addition)

We have workflows like this running everywhere. After every client call, it writes a report with action points for my client, then pulls out content ideas and social proof. Every week, it analyses my top-performing content and writes a report so I can double down on what works. I also use it HEAVILY for decision making, saving serious mental RAM so I can write more.

But I do not let it write this newsletter.

Not the first draft. Not the final draft. Not the structure. I protect this shit like it is my baby. Because the point of a barbell strategy is to avoid the messy middle. And if you do not have an output that is CLEARLY you, then it doesn’t matter how many agents you have running or cool cowork prompts you have fapped over.

You are building an empire on a foundation of sand.

In a world where everyone gives themselves to AI, being human will be the ultimate competitive advantage.

Play the game well my friend,

Kieran

P.S.

On May 7th, I'm launching a three-month cohort for founders, entrepreneurs, and deep thinkers who want to build a business around their ideas. As part of this program, you get my workflows and prompts. I'll even show you how to hire a VA to run most of it, too.

I want to work closely with motivated people, so spaces are limited to a hundred seats. Those on the wait list will hear about it first, so click here to join 500+ people, and I'll be in touch.​