When I meet people who read this blog, the comment I hear most often is “you are brave to be so honest.”

The first time I heard it, I wondered if I was revealing too much. I asked myself, “Am I an oversharer?”

I went back and reread my posts. I am comfortable with what I have shared. That does not answer the oversharing question, but I know where my own line is.

I do write about work issues before they are resolved. I wrote about my CFAO search while it was still open. I have also written about some of my personal failures. LinkedIn, where most people encounter my blog, is mostly full of self-promotion, so I can see why my approach comes across as bravely honest.

Today I want to write about something that does make me nervous. I use AI to write this blog.

I am not a fast writer, and I am the queen of typos. I have set aside about 45 minutes a week for this blog. That is not enough time for me to write a post from a blank page.

Here is the process I use to make it work.

I type a stream-of-consciousness version of what I want to say into Claude. It is messy and full of typos. Then I ask Claude to write a blog post in my style.

Earlier this year I wrote out instructions for these posts. They describe the style I like, down to the punctuation and phrases I do not want to see. They also describe how I want facts checked. Claude has to verify names, book titles, and numbers, and tell me when it cannot.

After many months of working this way, the draft usually comes back close to what I want. I still need to do a fairly heavy edit to make sure the points I want to get across are coming through.

The ideas and the experiences are mine. The edit is mine. The first draft is not. This post went through the same process.

My nervousness has some evidence behind it. Researchers at the University of Arizona found that people who disclose their AI use are trusted less than people who say nothing. They also found that the loss of trust is larger when someone hides AI use and is found out later.

So I may lose some of your trust today, but I would rather you hear it from me. Since my readers value the honesty in this blog, I want to make sure that honesty includes how the posts get written.

I have not settled every question for myself. I do not know if my approach precludes me from calling a post fully mine. I do not know what I am giving up as a critical thinker when I skip part of the writing process.

I would love your thoughts. Am I using AI responsibly, or am I leaning into the convenience too hard? If you write for your members, your board, or your staff, where do you draw the line?

I want to be transparent and responsible. I hope you do not find this confession too disappointing.