Humans are wired for connections, and writing is one of our most profound inventions to make those connections. Whether it’s a book, article, blog, or social media post, written words help us feel understood, learn from others, and become inspired. But what makes human writing truly human?

Now, with artificial intelligence (AI) generating text at a keystroke, the question of what makes writing human and not machine generated is more relevant than ever. Human writing isn’t just about the correct use of grammar, proper punctuation, and following style guides. It’s about establishing a psychological connection between the writer and the reader through our uniquely human characteristics of authenticity, emotion, empathy, and relatability.

Truly Human Writing: Authenticity, Emotion, Empathy, and Relatability

Truly effective human writing engages readers through four interconnected elements:

• Authenticity
• Emotion
• Empathy
• Relatability

Authenticity is the heart of human writing. It’s about feeling genuine. When writers reveal their own doubts, struggles, or successes – the good and the bad — they invite readers into a space to share their humanity. This self-knowledge and the willingness to expose it to readers creates a unique sense of trust. As a chatbot, AI has no ability to doubt, struggle, or celebrate.

Writing that evokes emotion is writing that is more likely to be remembered and shared. This is an inward-looking skill where writers express their own feelings, such as joy, sadness, anger, fear, or excitement. The best writers know how to evoke emotions so that their readers feel them. AI can analyze sentiment and generate text that mimics emotion, but it lacks the true emotional intuition and intelligence of humans. It can write a love letter, but it does not love.

Empathy is the writer’s ability to understand what others feel. By putting themselves in someone else’s shoes, writers can understand the needs of their readers. This requires an awareness of cultural and social contexts so that they can create genuine characters and real experiences that address readers’ pain points and needs in a way that feels personal and sincere. AI lacks this understanding. It can generate responses based on data, but it does not genuinely understand human emotions.

Relatable writing forges a personal connection between writers and readers, making readers feel seen and understood, regardless of background, experience, or culture. Good writers use conversational tones, real-life scenarios, and shared experiences like love, fear, ambition, and belonging to forge this connection. AI-generated text often feels generic while human writing is infused with individuality. The quirks, humor, and imperfections in human writing make it real; AI struggles to replicate them.

Unlike AI, which processes language and generates text based on patterns and probability, human writing stems from lived experiences, cultural nuances, and personal insights.

Human writing carries with it our consciousness. It distills the sum of our life, complete with all its contradictions, personal perspectives, lived experiences, and social interactions.

Emotional Intelligence

One of the most distinctive features of human writing is emotional intelligence, the ability to manage both your own emotions and understand the emotions of others. Human writers can gauge the values and motivations of their audiences and adjust their writing styles accordingly to appeal to both emotions and logic.

In corporate settings, this emotional intelligence can be the difference between a bland corporate memo and a motivating message that inspires action and loyalty. In fields like public relations, marketing, and advertising, emotional intelligence is the key to creating content that resonates with specific audiences. Human writers can tailor their arguments to the unique needs and values of their readers in ways that AI simply cannot do.

Just look at the difference between a technical manual written by an AI and a case study that looks at personally overcoming a technological challenge. AI might provide the exact steps to program your TV remote or build a shed, but the human writer brings to life the frustration, the moments of revelation, and the satisfaction of eventually solving the problem. Human writers transform mundane information into stories that resonate with readers on an emotional level.

Making It Personal

One of the most compelling aspects of human writing is weaving personal experiences into broader narratives. When human writers draw from their personal experiences with an anecdote, a memory, or a lesson learned, their writing feels grounded in reality rather than in abstraction. 

These personal experiences serve as landmarks for readers. When they read about experiences like their own, they feel understood. This recognition creates a bond between writers and readers because they reflect real-life emotions and struggles. AI can aggregate data on what people feel, but it cannot experience happiness, vulnerability, or heartbreak.

Creativity and Originality

AI can combine existing ideas in new ways to generate text, but true creativity — the ability to generate entirely novel concepts – is uniquely human. Human writers underscore the originality to their work through unexpected metaphors and analogies, innovative problem-solving approaches, and new takes on familiar topics.

This creativity is essential in fields like public relations, marketing, and advertising where creating content that stands out from the crowd requires more than just a data-driven approach. It’s the creative human touch that turns a “speeds and feeds” product description into a compelling case study or web page that solves a pain point for potential clients and customers.

The Art of Storytelling

Human beings are natural storytellers. Humans instinctively understand story structure, knowing when to create tension, where to place revelations, and how to pace emotional movements. This is an ability that goes back in time before the written word, when oral stories were used to share information, remember family histories, and preserve culture from generation to generation. Today, we retain that ability ourselves through a lifetime of consuming and creating stories.

Our brains are wired to respond to stories in profound ways. When we read, our neural activity changes. Stories activate both language processing areas and sensory cortices so that we feel as if we are experiencing the events we’re reading about. This phenomenon, called “neural coupling,” creates a deep connection between writers and readers.

Powerful stories trigger the release of oxytocin, the same neurochemical associated with bonding and trust in physical relationships. This chemical response explains why well-crafted narratives can influence our attitudes and behaviors so effectively.

AI can generate stories based on existing templates, but it lacks the intuitive ability to craft tales that resonate on a deeply personal level. Expert human writers have learned by honing their craft how to make stories memorable by building suspense, pacing a narrative, and leaving room for interpretation.

In public relations, marketing, and advertising, storytelling can be a powerful tool to build brands, establish thought leadership, and help sell products and services. A well-crafted story can simplify complex ideas to make them more understandable and relevant to potential clients and customers.

The Irreplaceable Value of Human Writing

In a world increasingly saturated with AI-generated content, human writing stands out not because of perfect grammar or punctuation, but because of its authenticity, emotion, empathy, and relatability. Stories that spark emotion, messages that feel personal, and perspectives that can’t be replicated by machines are the hallmarks of writing that connects and influences.

AI may be a useful tool for content generation, research, and data analysis, but it is not a substitute for authentic human expression. Writers who embrace AI as an aid rather than a replacement will find new ways to enhance their creativity while keeping the essential human elements that make their writing meaningful.

As AI evolves, the role of human writers will not diminish; it will become even more valuable. The ability to tell stories, evoke emotions, and connect on a human level is irreplaceable. Because human writing isn’t just about words, it’s about connecting people — connections that machines cannot replicate. 

An expert writer will make your AI-generated and human-written copy better — whether it’s for public relations, marketing, advertising, or the web. Contact Randy Savicky at randy@writingforhumans.co or by calling (203) 571-8151.

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