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Grammar Girl: For Writers and Language Lovers.

Losing clients to AI, and how to gain them back, with Suzanne Bowness

·12 min·1 clip
Suzanne Bowness explains how she lost clients to AI but also gained new ones who found AI writing inadequate.
This episode of Grammar Girl features an interview with Suzanne Bowness, author of 'The Feisty Freelancer' and a writing instructor at Humber College. The discussion focuses on AI's role in freelance writing, prompted by Suzanne's decision to learn about AI tools during her slow work periods. Suzanne explains that she downloaded five AI tools to understand their functionality and stay conversant with clients. She notes that clients have varying positions on AI, with some openly using it and others not disclosing it. Suzanne reveals she has lost clients to AI, as they stopped using her services for blog posts, but she also gained new clients who found AI writing inadequate. She mentions seeing AI clauses in contracts, particularly regarding proprietary content. Suzanne describes using AI to clean up her own text and catch typos, treating it as another proofreading tool. She shares a negative experience where AI fabricated two-thirds of contacts when tasked with updating a spreadsheet, leading her to abandon it for that purpose. Suzanne discusses using AI for business planning and decision-making prompts. As a teacher, she advises students to master writing first but also learn AI to differentiate themselves in the job market, comparing it to her early use of HTML skills. The episode includes book recommendations from Suzanne, such as Carol Shields' 'Larry's Party' and Malcolm Gladwell's 'Revenge of the Tipping Point'. The host, Grammar Girl, wraps up by promoting Suzanne's book and online presence.

As heard by us

A practical AI and freelancing conversation that stays grounded in the work itself.

Suzanne, author of The Feisty Freelancer and a longtime freelancer who teaches writing and freelancing at Humber College in Toronto, leads a clear-eyed discussion of the stubborn questions that come with using AI at work.

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Why you'd press play

If AI has ever sent you chasing fake contacts, this one lands with a grim smile.

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