Get Better Text: Have AI Choose from Your Drafts

What you’ll get

You will get a high-quality piece of text (like an email subject line or product description) that has been selected and refined by an AI. The AI will also explain why it chose that option, helping you understand what makes good writing. This approach works because AI is often better at judging and comparing existing options than at generating completely new, creative text from scratch. It avoids the ‘safe middle’ quality often seen in AI-generated content.

Tools you need

• ChatGPT (freemium): An AI chat assistant that can understand and respond to your text requests.

Steps

1. Draft your options: Write 3 to 5 different versions of the text you need. These could be email subject lines, product descriptions, paragraph variations, or translations. Don’t worry if they’re not perfect; even mediocre options work. You should have a few distinct text options ready to compare.

2. Open your AI chat tool: Go to ChatGPT (or your preferred AI chat tool) in your web browser or mobile app. You should see the chat interface, ready for your input.

3. Ask the AI to choose: Paste all your drafted options into the chat. Then, ask the AI to pick the best one and explain its reasoning. The author doesn’t share their exact prompt, but a good starting point is:

   Here are 5 options for [what you are writing, e.g., an email subject line]. Which one is the best, and why?
   
   1. [Your first option]
   2. [Your second option]
   3. [Your third option]
   4. [Your fourth option]
   5. [Your fifth option]

   The AI will respond by selecting one of your options and providing a clear explanation of its choice, highlighting strengths like clarity, impact, or tone.

4. Refine (optional): If you want to improve the chosen option further, you can ask the AI for small tweaks based on its explanation. For example, “Can you make the chosen subject line a bit more urgent?” You’ll get a slightly modified version of the best option.

Original source

This workflow was shared by Reddit user /u/Inevitable-Good219, who discovered that AI’s judgment capabilities often outperform its creative generation when it comes to refining text. The author posted their findings on Reddit.

Notes & variations

• You can use other freemium AI chat tools like Claude (claude.ai) or Gemini (gemini.google.com) for this workflow. The core idea remains the same.
• A common mistake is asking the AI to ‘just write it for me’ from scratch. This often leads to generic, ‘safe middle’ results. Instead, always provide your own options for the AI to judge.
• Even if your initial drafts are ‘bad ones’ (as the author puts it), having distinct options helps the AI see differences and make a more informed choice. Don’t be afraid to experiment with varied styles in your drafts.