When a technology reporter Alex Heath has some information, sits down at the computer and speaks into the microphone. He doesn’t talk to his human friend, Heath became independent last year on Substack – talks to Claude. Using Wispr Flow’s AI-powered service, Heath feeds his ideas to an AI agent and then lets him write a first draft.
Heath sat down with me last week to share how he incorporated Anthropic’s Claude Cowork into his journalism process. The AI tool is connected to his Gmail, Google Calendar, Granola AI transcription service and Notion notes. He also developed a detailed skill – a custom set of instructions – to lend a hand Claude write in his style, including the “10 Commandments” of writing like Alex Heath. The skill includes previous articles he has written, instructions on how to structure newsletters, and notes on his voice and writing style.
Claude Cowork then automates the text creation process that previously took place in Heath’s head. Once the agent finishes the first draft, Heath goes back and forth over it for up to 30 minutes, suggesting revisions. It’s quite a complicated process, and he still writes some parts of the story himself. But Heath says this workflow saves him hours a week, and he now spends 30 to 40 percent less time writing.
“I always hated the process of writing a story from zero to one… Now it’s actually a lot of fun,” he says. “Going out alone, I realized I needed AI to help regulate the volume.”
Heath is among a growing group of technology reporters using artificial intelligence to write and edit their stories. The AI-powered workflow is particularly attractive to reporters who have become independent, losing valuable resources such as editors and fact-checkers that are typically available in a established newsroom. Instead of simply having ChatGPT write stories, independent journalists say they are recreating these resources using artificial intelligence.
Their apply raises broader questions about the value of human journalists. If humans apply AI to write, edit, and fact-check, what do they bring to the table? Recent test Google DeepMind researchers suggest that indolent apply of AI can make your writing more uniform. He is less original, has less voice and takes a more neutral stance. To apply AI well, the journalists I spoke to say they need to understand why people pay for their work in the first place. (WIRED’s policies prohibit the apply of artificial intelligence in writing or editing.)
While some writers have built careers on their analysis and prose, Heath sees his value in his ability to obtain information. Claude makes it easier for him to spend more time talking to sources and disseminating information to subscribers.
Several longtime journalists have pointed out to me that Heath’s way of working is like a current version of an institution with a long history: copy desk. In the days before laptops and smartphones, reporters in the field would call newsrooms, where writers behind desks would quickly weave reported details into stories they could print in the next day’s newspaper. This allowed some reporters to spend days reporting on events and talking to sources. In a sense, Claude is now Heath’s writing desk.
“I feel like I’m cheating in an incredible way,” Heath says. “I never did it because I liked being a writer. I like writing reports, learning new things, having an advantage and telling people things that will make them feel smart in six months.”
Jasmine Sun, who previously worked as a product manager at Substack, recently launched her own newsletter focusing on artificial intelligence and Silicon Valley culture. Last week, she published an article in The Atlantic about the impact of training after training AI models are poor at typing essentially defeating their creativity. For this reason, Sun never uses AI for writing, but it found a promising solution by hiring Claude as an editor.