Who is better: human vs AI writers? The answer depends on who you ask and on how you define “better.” LLMs (Large Language Models), like GPT, Gemini, or Claude, are cheap, convenient, and can produce huge amounts of content in mere minutes.
However, if the main criterion is quality, they can’t compare to human writers, at least not yet. So, if you’re a college student, handing in an AI-generated essay to your professor is one of the worst things you can do to your academic career.
AI Writing vs Human Writing: AI’s Main Problems
When you have an assignment due in an hour, it’s tempting to just use GPT or another AI writing tool to have it ready in minutes. But that’s a losing strategy.
AI might not be entirely useless: for example, it’s great for summarizing long and complicated sources. And yet, for now, it’s a clear loser in the AI vs human writing battle.
Let’s see why.
AI is often wrong
If you’re a regular GPT user, you know that LLMs can’t be trusted. AI-generated texts are full of fake statistics and misattributed (or blatantly fake) quotes.
When you’re asking LLM for something, and it doesn’t know a clear answer, it just makes it up. That’s why any human writer using AI needs to fact-check everything it produces. Otherwise, they’ll almost definitely get in trouble.
AI doesn’t reference the sources it uses accurately
Another critical flaw of LLMs that makes AI lose points in the “AI writing versus human writing” debate is that it keeps messing up the sources it quotes from. Again, you have to double-check them yourself, so what’s even the point?
By the way, LLMs can’t even generate a decent reference when you give them a specific DOI. Give it a try: you’ll end up with a bunch of references for articles that have nothing to do with the DOIs you provided.
AI writing is recognizable
Anyone who is familiar with AI’s writing patterns can recognize an AI-generated text. LLMs adore specific words (unleash, enhance, boost, vital, etc.), constructions (“It’s not just…It’s…”), and sentence structures.
Even if you edit an AI-generated text relentlessly, the person reading it will probably still recognize AI vs human writing. You might be able to cheat AI detectors, but not a trained human eye.
AI writing is generic
AI writing is all about “finding robust solutions” and “optimizing processes,” but with no actual information on how exactly this is supposed to be done. The same applies to any topic. Good luck trying to get something out of an LLM that isn’t fluffy and shallow.
There’s plagiarism in AI-generated texts
If you’re using AI tools for essays, always run them through a few different plagiarism detectors afterward. Most AI-generated content is at least 10-20% unoriginal, so using LLMs for schoolwork without triple-checking the result might get you in trouble.
Why It’s Better to Hire a Human Writer Than Use AI
It’s tempting to just use AI tools for school assignments, even more so if writing isn’t something you enjoy. But giving in to the temptation comes with serious risks, including failing your course or even facing your school’s Academic Integrity Committee. Neither is pleasant.
While it’s a more expensive option, you’re better off hiring a professional human essay writer. There are quite a few online platforms for that, and some of them are genuinely good. The best essay writing service is probably EssayPro, but it’s not the only option.
Although having a professional write your homework will cost you more and take longer, the result will be much better than if you just hand in a GPT-generated assignment. At the very least, your essay won’t require much fact-checking – the writer will take care of it for you.
AI Writing vs Human Writing Differences
You already know some of the issues that make LLMs a questionable choice for writing, especially for high-stakes assignments. But there’s more.
Human writing is emotional and personal – AI writing isn’t
One of the reasons why humans are winning the battle with AI is that they have first-hand experience with human emotions.
AI knows what emotions are and can mimic them (although not always compellingly), but can’t actually feel them. This can lead to unexpected consequences, especially if you’re trying to get an LLM to write an emotional short story or other fiction.
A character who has just found out her husband died might react by “going for a walk in the park” – or something even more questionable.
AI struggles with instructions – professional human writers don’t
Have you ever tried to get GPT to follow specific word count requirements? If you have, then you know that it’s awful at it, especially if the text you’re trying to generate is longer than 800 words or so.
So, it’s no surprise that LLMs struggle even more when the instructions are complex. They tend to ignore part of the prompt and then say “Sorry!” once you call them out on it, only to make the same mistake again.
Sure, human writers can make mistakes and miss something, too, especially if the instructions are long and convoluted. And yet, for now, they still have the upper hand in the human writing vs AI writing competition.
AI tools are quick and available 24/7 – human writers are less so
But AI writing tools have their perks, too. Although a lot of professional writing services are available 24/7, no writer can complete a 5-page essay in less than an hour; AI can.
This explains why LLMs are gradually taking over humans in the industries where the speed of content production matters more than quality. AI-generated content takes way less time, and it’s cheap, if not completely free. No wonder some businesses are switching to it.
AI has nearly perfect grammar – most human writers don’t
Finally, AI writing tools write without typos and with very few grammatical mistakes. You might spot a redundant comma here and there, but, for the most part, LLMs’ grammar and punctuation are nearly flawless. But does that matter if the idea behind that flawless grammar is something the AI just made up?
AI vs Human Writing Examples
Again, it’s typically easy to spot AI vs human content because AI-generated texts are fluffy, vague, and otherwise watery. Let’s take a look:
“Taking care of your mental health means paying attention to your emotions and finding ways to stay positive, which can lead to improvements in overall well-being.”
Is there anything in this sentence that isn’t obvious? Do you feel like you’ve learned something from it? What does it even say?
That’s classic AI writing for you – it leaves the reader with a confused, “So what?”
How Can AI Help a Human Content Writer?
The goal of this article isn’t to bash AI, though. The correct answer to the AI writing vs human creativity debate might be obvious, but this doesn’t mean that LLMs are useless. There are quite a few stages of the writing process that they can help with, including:
- Summarizing sources. When you have 15 assigned readings and an essay based on them that’s due in a day, AI can become a lifesaver. Its summaries might be somewhat surface-level, but it’s still better than having to read 100+ pages of dry academic text.
- Outlining. GPT and other LLMs are perfect for creating a detailed outline. Considering that outlining takes roughly 30% of the overall writing process, why not use AI? You’ll have a good structure to follow in your essay or research paper.
- Iterating. Use any LLM as a collaborator in your writing process. For example, ask for options when you’re trying to find the perfect word choice or sentence structure that works best.
- Explaining complex concepts. If you’re struggling to understand what quantum entanglement is or how economic inflation works, ask AI to “explain it to you like you are 12.” Most LLMs are pretty good at that.
- Proofreading. AI can help you polish your writing. If you live alone and don’t have a spare pair of eyes to help you with proofreading, make an LLM your study buddy. It can catch typos, missed commas, and awkward phrasing. But still, double-check after – AI is notoriously unreliable.
Writers vs AI – Final Verdict
As you can see, the correct answer to the “AI content vs human content: Which one’s better?” question is obvious. AI writing tools might be decent at outlining, summarizing, and editing – but not writing.
The problem is that AI struggles with research and tends to deliver mostly fluffy texts that lack any depth. This might change in a couple of years, but for now, you’re better off with a professional human writer.
