I've been thinking about AI and blogging a lot lately. And I mean thinking about it—not just using whatever comes out of ChatGPT. Because there's a massive difference between having an AI writing assistant and having ChatGPT open in another tab.

When I started building Jottings, one of the first things I heard from people was: "Why would I need another platform? I just use ChatGPT." Fair question. But here's what I've learned after talking to dozens of bloggers: AI isn't the problem. Friction is the problem.

The ChatGPT Workflow Problem

Let me paint a picture. You're writing a blog post. You've got a good idea, you start typing, and halfway through you hit a wall. Maybe you:

• Want to expand a paragraph but keep the same tone
• Need to adjust the energy of a sentence
• Want to rewrite something that feels clunky
• Need help with a title that actually captures what you wrote

What do most people do? They copy-paste into ChatGPT. Write a prompt. Wait for the response. Copy it back. Adjust it to match their voice. Rinse and repeat.

That context switching is exhausting. And it's why a lot of bloggers just... don't use AI at all. It feels like more work than it's worth.

Integrated AI Changes Everything

Here's the thing about building AI directly into a blogging platform: you can make it frictionless.

With Jottings, your AI assistant isn't somewhere else—it's right there in your editor. You select the text you want to adjust, click an option, and it happens in your draft. You see the change immediately. You accept it or you don't. No context switching. No copy-pasting. No prompt engineering.

This is why integrated AI feels different. It's not revolutionary—it's just respectful of your workflow.

What Kind of Help Actually Matters

I've noticed that what bloggers actually need from AI isn't what you might think. Nobody's saying "write my blog post for me." What they're saying is:

Tone adjustment. You've written something that feels corporate when you wanted conversational. Or too casual when you needed authority. A few clicks and you can shift the tone without rewriting it yourself.

Expansion. You've got a good point but it needs more depth. Instead of staring at a blank screen trying to elaborate, you can ask the AI to expand it while keeping your voice intact. Then you edit from there.

Generation with guardrails. Sometimes you want the AI to suggest a title or generate a few opening sentences—but based on what you've already written. Not from scratch. The AI has context. It knows your style. It's working with you, not replacing you.

Cutting clutter. Some writing just needs to be tighter. Removing redundancy, trimming weak phrases, making your point more crisp. That's where AI excels and humans often can't be objective about their own work.

What doesn't work? Asking AI to have original ideas. To know your audience better than you. To take a vague prompt and magically produce something publishable. That's where it breaks down, and that's why I'm building Jottings to keep you at the center of the process.

The Free vs. PRO Reality

Here's my honest take: everyone should be able to try AI writing assistance. So in Jottings, the basic AI features are built into the free plan. You get tone adjustment, expansion, and a few other fundamentals.

The PRO features are for people who are serious about it. More AI calls. Access to more advanced options. The ability to do more rounds of refinement without hitting limits. But the core experience? That's available to everyone.

I didn't want to build something where AI was a premium feature locked behind a paywall. That felt wrong. But I also think people who use it heavily should support the cost of running it. That's why PRO exists.

When AI Helps. When It Doesn't.

Let me be direct about the limits, because this matters.

AI is great at:

• Making your writing clearer
• Helping you find the right tone
• Expanding ideas you already have
• Catching repetitive phrasing
• Suggesting better word choices

AI is not great at:

• Coming up with new ideas you haven't thought of
• Understanding your niche audience deeply
• Taking risks that feel authentic to who you are
• Building your unique voice (only you can do that)
• Knowing what your readers actually want to hear

This is why I think about AI as a collaborator, not a replacement. The best writing comes from humans who have something to say. AI's job is to help you say it better, clearer, and faster. Not to say it for you.

Why I Built This

I've been blogging for years. And I've noticed something: the people who stick with it aren't the ones who try to optimize every word. They're the ones who write regularly and get better over time.

Friction kills that. If your blogging tool makes it annoying to polish your work, you either write less or you write worse. Both bad outcomes.

So when I built Jottings, I thought about what would make blogging easier, not just more automated. Integrated AI felt like an obvious place to start. Not as a replacement for your voice, but as a way to spend less time fighting your draft and more time writing what matters to you.

The other thing that matters? Owning your platform. Publishing directly to your own space instead of relying on algorithms and platforms that might disappear. That's why Jottings exists as a tool you control, with AI built in to make your job easier.

The Bottom Line

If you're a blogger, you probably don't need another AI writing service. You need something that integrates AI into your process without creating friction. You need AI that respects that you're the writer—it's just there to help you write better.

That's what I'm building with Jottings. A blogging platform that gets out of your way and gives you tools—including AI—to write what you want, the way you want.

If that sounds useful, I'd love for you to try it. It's free to start. See if an integrated AI assistant actually changes how you write.

Because that's the real question, isn't it? Not whether AI can write. But whether AI can help you write better.