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Write Your Own Copy

Every day I'm seeing people making websites for the sole purpose of posting to HN, and it's all AI. The site, the words, the ideas. Obviously that person had the idea to begin with, but the execution is slop.

These people are putting their names on this stuff, and everyone in the world right now is learning to recognize the tells of AI writing. The tone, the abstractness, the specific phrasing. We all know it. It's a turn off.

So my idea is simple: write your own copy. That's an advantage now. It's becoming scarce today. Be real. Whatever that means to you.

( 17 comments | 2 points | on HN )
Re:Write Your Own Copy by verdverm on Saturday April 04, 2026 @09:49PM (#47645397)
For those who want to get better at writing, the easiest way is to read judiciously. Of course you do have to practice what you want to become good at as well.

For marketing copy, have conversations with users. They will give you the perspectives, pitches, and parlance you seek.

Re:Write Your Own Copy by bhag2066 on Sunday April 05, 2026 @12:27AM (#47646106)
Handwriting (copying word for word) good copy is also a great way to become a good copywriter.
Re:Write Your Own Copy by andrei_says_ on Saturday April 04, 2026 @11:18PM (#47645824)
I’m genuinely impressed by the speed of mass slopification raising the toxicity of the whole internet.

And now poisoning human attention and the very ability to reason. At scale.

Makes me think of Kali Yuga, the age of ignorance.

Are we doing this to ourselves? Is it being done to us? Is it some kind of self destruct implanted by aliens in a dark forest scenario?

It’s just… really fascinating.

Also reminds me of this - story

https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/different-kinds-o...

Re:Write Your Own Copy by Muhammad523 on Sunday April 05, 2026 @01:53AM (#47646488)
Write your own copy of.... what?
Re:Write Your Own Copy by Zetaphor on Sunday April 05, 2026 @02:03AM (#47646525)
Re:Write Your Own Copy by yen223 on Sunday April 05, 2026 @02:23AM (#47646629)
This sounds AI haha
Re:Write Your Own Copy by ostefani on Sunday April 05, 2026 @02:31AM (#47646681)
This is a problem: some people, some companies... no one want to pay | give more effort if it can be done faster and cheaper.
Re:Write Your Own Copy by ChrisArchitect on Sunday April 05, 2026 @02:35AM (#47646723)
Related this past week:

Do your own writing

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47573519

[dead]
Re:Write Your Own Copy by lproven on Sunday April 05, 2026 @09:32AM (#47649279)
SEO is a scam, too.

AI is a scam. SEO is a scam. Blockchain -- all applications, no exceptions -- is a scam. Kubernetes is a scam: it's real, it works, and nobody except Google itself ever needed it. Containers are mostly a scam: they're a useful tool but not a deployment method, not a software distribution method, etc. SaaS and everything aaS are scams: own your shit, keep your own data on boxes you own. Pay for good smart people to run them. Hire old people, and pay enough to keep them. Good techies are not a fungible resource, and tech that makes people more fungible is bad tech.

Being AI advocates is a good sign of scammers, of industrial-scale incompetence, and of entire industries and market sectors to avoid.

Re:Write Your Own Copy by msla on Wednesday April 15, 2026 @05:54AM (#47776883)
Your comments read like they're AI generated. Using "spend" as a noun, for example.
Re:Write Your Own Copy by nacozarina on Sunday April 05, 2026 @06:16AM (#47647894)
People are trying. Good writing is difficult to produce. For the average Joe, the most cost-effective writing tutor/aid available is a free AI prompt. So that’s what they are using.

There are real ppl using AI to speak up that were previously silent. Yes, AI is the difference-maker for their engagement. Yes, their efforts are imperfect and have a ‘smell’. That’s not a defect, that’s a perfectly normal and expected condition.

Re:Write Your Own Copy by rwasimsk on Sunday April 05, 2026 @09:03AM (#47649001)
Btw, I am a Vibe Coder. Still I must say- Although I use AI for my frontend development and more stuff, I believe originality is the best path. You can build outstanding web pages, platforms & articles via AI, but it comes at a cost- burial of your creativity. So you must learn to code, write and understand too. So imperfection is better than perfect copied stuff.

I agree to this- "Write Your Own Copy".

Re:Write Your Own Copy by AnimalMuppet on Sunday April 05, 2026 @11:28AM (#47650411)
More fundamentally, in writing it out, I have to clarify my own thoughts. The worst problem with AI writing isn't that, as Xiaoher-C said, "AI copy reads like nobody home" (beautifully said), and so nobody reads it. The worst problem is that you don't have to clarify your own thoughts and ideas. There is a cost to you in that.
Re:Write Your Own Copy by jackycufe on Sunday April 05, 2026 @11:42PM (#47656743)
"real" is the most important and the most precious thing
Re:Write Your Own Copy by lyfeninja on Monday April 06, 2026 @06:56AM (#47659265)
I get what you're saying here and I agree if you're only using unedited AI content to just increase your post frequency, then yeah it's annoying and feels somewhat abusive.

I personally like to use AI to make a first draft and then edit from there. It's way faster at that first draft than I am, but I can still maintain my voice and ensure I'm making all my points.

I will say many people are also generally bad writers. Is it slop if it's actually a better writer than the engineer making the site or the owner of a small business without a marketing team? It just seems like a tool to write better.

Re:Write Your Own Copy by lgq on Tuesday April 07, 2026 @06:11PM (#47682009)
You're right, and it's getting exhausting. - generated by GPT
Re:Write Your Own Copy by dokdev on Thursday April 09, 2026 @05:31PM (#47710431)
You are absolutely right! :)

I was heavily using AI for my blog/social media posts. Then I realized I lost my “voice”.

Also as a reader, I started having a habit of stopping halfway through an article if I realize that it was generated by AI.

Now I am only using to check my grammar, since I am a non-native speaker.