Pretty much everyone, writer or not, knows that writing always benefits from a second set of eyes. That’s why there are several distinct types of editing (line, substantive, copyediting) in addition to proofreading and fact-checking. Publishing anything that hasn’t been through at least one editing round is generally poor practice.
But stuff happens. Maybe your editor is on vacation, you’re a team of one, or maybe a last-minute request landed in your inbox and it needs to go live before anyone else has time to review it.
My manager, who normally reviews much of my work, was out of office for a couple of weeks recently. We’re a small team, of which my manager and I are the only writers. So when she was out, I needed to edit my own copy.
If you’ve ever had to do that, you know the challenge. By the time you’ve written something, your brain already knows what you want it to say, which makes it easier to gloss over missing words, awkward sentences and other small mistakes.
AI can be useful in cases like this. But even with its analytical way, it might not catch everything — and at times could even suggest changes that make your writing worse. It isn’t a replacement for a skilled editor by any means, but it can serve as a reliable second pair of “eyes” when you’re in a pinch. Or, at the very least, it can help you submit cleaner drafts to your editor in the first place.
Why Self-Editing Is So Difficult (and Why It Should Only Ever Be a Last Resort)
You might know this feeling: You read a sentence a hundred times and it looks perfect. Then, after publishing, you notice an obvious typo that, somehow, didn’t stand out earlier.
Our brains are strangely good at filling in missing information when we already know what we intended to write. Professional editors typically don’t have this problem to the same degree because they’re approaching the content fresh. It isn’t their writing, so they can look at it clearly and objectively.
AI offers a similar advantage, since it doesn’t know what you meant to say. It only evaluates what’s actually on the page. That makes it surprisingly good at spotting mechanical issues.
What AI Is Good at Catching
From a pattern recognition standpoint, today’s AI tools are pretty capable copy editors. Some of the most useful things they can identify include:
- Grammar mistakes.
- Spelling errors.
- Missing or repeated words.
- Run-on sentences.
- Passive constructions that reduce clarity.
- Inconsistent capitalization or punctuation.
- Overly long paragraphs.
- Repetitive wording.
- Difficult-to-follow sentences.
These are exactly the kinds of issues that can slip through during self-editing, since you know what you’re trying to say, and it might seem perfectly clear.
For example, instead of simply asking an AI to “proofread this,” you can give it more focused instructions, like:
- Review this article for grammar, punctuation and spelling mistakes only. Don’t rewrite my voice.
- Identify sentences that are unclear or unnecessarily wordy.
- Point out repeated words, clichés or phrases I use too often.
- List any inconsistencies in formatting, capitalization or terminology.
The more specific your prompt, the more useful the feedback tends to be.
AI Shouldn’t Rewrite Everything
Just asking AI to “make this better” is probably one of the reasons we’ve wound up with a slop problem.
Many models naturally gravitate toward similar sentence structures, transitional phrases and vocabulary. If you accept every suggestion without thinking, your writing’s at risk of losing its personality. If it points out an awkward sentence, great, but decide for yourself how you want to improve it. Likewise, if it recommends replacing a phrase that matches your brand voice just fine, you don’t have to accept the suggestion.
Leverage AI Before Sending Work to an Editor
AI is a great help when you’re stuck working alone, but it can still be useful even if everyone on your team is present.
Running your draft through AI before sharing it for editing can help reduce or even eliminate small mechanical issues that might crop up, which allows your actual editor more time to focus on the things they do best:
- Strengthening arguments.
- Improving flow.
- Challenging weak assumptions.
- Refining messaging.
- Ensuring consistency with your brand voice.
- Considering your audience.
I think most editors would rather discuss positioning or storytelling anyway than spend time flagging missing punctuation or word repetition.
Don’t Accept Every Suggestion
If you’ve used AI, you know how much of an overly-confident “yes person” it can be. Because of that, it will often “correct” sentences that weren’t wrong to begin with, simplify technical language your audience actually expects or introduce factual inaccuracies while attempting to improve readability.
So, treat every suggestion as… a suggestion. Your goal is to improve the finished piece rather than maximize the amount of changes your AI tool suggests that you make. Your finished piece should still sound like you.
A Simple AI Editing Workflow
If you’re using AI to proofread your work, here’s a workflow that served me well while my editor was out of office.
1. Finish Writing First
Self-editing while I write is one of my weaknesses. I just can’t help it. But that can eat away at the time that stands between now and your deadline, which can make the writing process hastier and the chance you introduce errors greater.
Finish getting all your thoughts down first, even if it’s hardly polished, so when it’s time to edit, you don’t have to also worry about what you want to say next.
2. Step Away If You Can
Forgetting about the piece for a full day is ideal, but even 15 or 20 minutes can create enough distance to help you spot issues you might have otherwise missed. Once you come back to it, perform your own edit first before you lean on AI.
3. Ask AI To Review the Draft
When you hand your copy over to AI, don’t be too general; i.e., requesting a complete rewrite. That almost guarantees a washing away of your unique voice. Instead, ask it to help you identify specific issues, like typos or sentence structure problems.
In my experience, it will probably call out or suggest things outside of what you prompt for anyway. Sometimes they’re helpful; other times I ignore them. Review each suggestion individually to decide whether it would genuinely improve the piece.
Final Thoughts
The best editors do much more than fix grammar mistakes. They understand audience expectations, can recognize when an argument doesn’t quite land, notice inconsistencies in tone across an article and, most importantly, ask questions that help you improve the thinking behind the writing rather than just the words themselves.
AI simply can’t do that with the same nuance — but it can help you catch those mechanical issues.
Whether you’re editing your own work by choice, or because deadlines shifted or teammates are unavailable, AI can be a helpful safety net. Just don’t mistake it for a one-to-one replacement for thoughtful human review.
