Richard Hanania argues AI writing tools should be embraced for poor writers, not restricted — challenging the idea that AI composition threatens professional writing

Richard Hanania published an essay on his Substack arguing that restrictions on AI-generated text are counterproductive, and that people with weak writing skills should use AI to compose text rather than submit poor-quality work. The piece challenges the assumption that AI writing is inherently bad or unfair.

His core argument: AI text generation (LLMs—software trained to predict and produce human-like sentences) can raise the baseline quality of communication. A bad writer using AI assistance produces better output than the same person writing alone, and this benefits readers and organizations that receive clearer writing.

For professionals and students, this reframes the writing-tools debate: instead of asking "is using AI to write cheating or lazy?", the question becomes "does the final text meet the standard my audience needs?" This could shift how employers, schools, and publications evaluate writing quality and where they draw the line on tool use.