I've been building Jottings for a while now, and one of the questions I hear from writers is: "Why would I use Jottings' AI when ChatGPT is so powerful?"

It's a fair question. ChatGPT is genuinely remarkable—it's a Swiss Army knife of AI that can write, edit, brainstorm, and refine. But powerful doesn't always mean practical. And that's the gap I'm trying to fill with Jottings.

Let me walk you through how I actually use both, and why I keep coming back to Jottings.

The ChatGPT Workflow (We All Know It)

Here's what using ChatGPT for blog writing typically looks like:

1. Draft something in your editor (or in ChatGPT itself)
2. Switch to ChatGPT in a new tab
3. Copy-paste your draft
4. Ask for a rewrite: "Make this snappier" or "Expand on this idea"
5. Copy the response back
6. Paste into your blog editor
7. Realize ChatGPT added some cringe corporate language you didn't want
8. Edit it manually
9. Repeat steps 3-8 until it's right

It works. ChatGPT is powerful. But it's a context switch factory. You're bouncing between tools, losing your train of thought, and—let's be honest—the AI doesn't actually know your blog, your voice, or what you're trying to accomplish.

The Jottings AI Difference

Jottings takes a different approach. AI lives inside your editor, not in a separate tab.

Here's what it looks like:

1. Start writing a jot
2. Highlight the part you want to refine
3. Click "Improve tone" or "Expand this"
4. The AI response appears inline, right where you're working
5. Accept or reject with one click
6. Keep writing

No copy-paste. No tab switching. No pasting corporate-speak into your carefully crafted piece.

But there's something deeper happening here. Jottings' AI knows:

• Your terminology: If you write about "jots" and "microblogs," the AI understands these aren't random words—they're core to your platform
• Markdown structure: It won't break your formatting. If you're using bold, links, or code snippets, they stay intact
• Your blog's context: Over time, Jottings learns your style. It's not a generic AI; it's contextual to your writing
• The actual use case: You're writing microblogs, not corporate reports. The suggestions reflect that

When ChatGPT Still Wins

I'm not going to pretend Jottings AI is a replacement for ChatGPT in every situation.

ChatGPT is better if you:

• Need to brainstorm from scratch: "Write me 10 blog ideas about productivity"
• Want deep research: "Summarize the history of RSS feeds in 500 words"
• Need complex reasoning: "Help me think through the pros and cons of X"
• Work across multiple domains: One moment you're writing code, the next you're drafting marketing copy

ChatGPT's general-purpose nature is its superpower. It can do literally anything.

Jottings AI is specialized. It's built for one thing: helping you write better jots faster, without leaving your flow state.

The Real Cost of Context Switching

Here's what I've realized building writing tools: the friction of switching contexts matters more than raw capability.

I can have the world's most powerful AI, but if I have to leave my editor to use it, my brain has already started thinking about something else. I've lost momentum. I've broken my creative flow.

Studies on context switching (yes, people study this) show that it takes an average of 23 minutes to regain focus after an interruption. Every tab switch, every copy-paste, every moment spent waiting for ChatGPT to load—it all adds up.

With Jottings, the AI is just... there. In your editor. Waiting. It's like having a thoughtful editor sitting next to you, not across town.

The Honest Truth

I built Jottings because I was frustrated with the copy-paste workflow. And yes, I have a business reason to push Jottings' integrated AI. But I'm not going to tell you ChatGPT is bad. It's phenomenal.

What I will tell you is this: For microblogging specifically, integrated beats powerful.

If you're writing 100 jots a month, the context switching costs add up. If you're trying to maintain a consistent voice across your blog, having AI that understands your context is invaluable. If you want to stay in your creative zone, removing friction matters.

A Practical Suggestion

Here's what I actually do:

• Jottings AI for iterative writing, refining, and quick improvements (99% of my jots)
• ChatGPT for research, brainstorming ideas, or when I need to dive deep on something outside my blog's scope

They're not enemies. They're tools for different problems. But for the specific problem of writing and publishing a microblog, Jottings is purpose-built.

And that purpose-built approach? It changes how you write.

You stay focused. Your flow doesn't break. The AI understands what you're building. Your voice remains yours.

That's worth something. At least, it's worth something to me.

P.S. If you're curious about how Jottings' AI works under the hood, check out our architecture documentation. And if you want to try it, you can start writing jots for free. No credit card. Just pure, focused writing.