The technology reporter Alex Heath is a reporter and he has an important scoop. He sits at his desk, speaks into the microphone. He’s not talking to a human colleague—Heath went independent on Substack last year—he’s talking to Claude. Heath uses the AI voice-to text service Wispr Flow to send his thoughts and ideas to an AI, who then writes his first draft.
Heath met with me to discuss how he has integrated Anthropic into his life. Claude Cowork This AI tool into his journalistic workflow. This AI is integrated with his Gmail account, Google Calendar, Granola AI, and Notion notes. He’s also built a detailed skill—a custom set of instructions—to help Claude write in his style, including the “10 commandments” Writing like Alex Heath. This includes his previous articles, his preferred newsletter structure, his writing voice, and his style of writing.
Claude Cowork will then automate the drafting that Heath used to do in his head. Heath will then spend up to thirty minutes reworking the first draft after it is finished by his agent. Heath still works on some portions of the story. Heath estimates that he saves hours of writing time every week with this new workflow.
“I’ve always hated the zero-to-one process of writing a story … Now, it’s actually kind of fun,” He says. “Going out on my own, I realized I need AI to help with the volume.”
Heath is one of the many tech journalists who use AI as a tool to write and edit stories. This AI workflow appeals to independent reporters, who are losing resources such as editors and fact checkers. Instead of just asking ChatGPT write stories, some independent journalists are creating these resources using AI.
The use of AI raises questions on the overall value and effectiveness of human journalism. If people are using AI to write, edit, and fact-check their stories—what do humans bring to the table? Recent research suggests that a recent study Researchers at Google DeepMind suggest that using AI to make writing less creative and more uniform can be a bad idea. The writing is less original, has less personality, and takes on a neutral tone. Journalists I talked to said that to use AI effectively, they must understand the reasons why people pay for their work. (WIRED’s policy Use of AI is not allowed in editing or writing.
Heath’s value is his ability to scoop. While other writers build their careers on analysis and prose he sees it as his capability to scoop. Claude helps him spend more time talking to sources and delivering information to his subscribers.
Heath’s work flow is a new version of an old institution, according to several longtime journalists. the rewrite desk. Before smartphones and laptops, field reporters would send their reports to the newsroom. Writers behind the desk quickly incorporated the reported information into the articles for the newspaper the next morning. Some reporters could spend the day covering events and speaking to sources. Claude has become Heath’s rewriting desk.
“I feel like I’m cheating in a way that feels amazing,” Heath. “I never did this because I liked being a writer. I like reporting, learning new things, having an edge, and telling people things that will make them feel smart six months from now.”
Jasmine Sun launched her newsletter on AI and Silicon Valley Culture. She previously worked at Substack as a Product Manager. She published an article last week in The Atlantic on how training makes you more productive. AI models bad at writing By essentially beating their creativity. Sun has never used AI for writing, but she’s found Claude to be a good editor.
