📓 Brex Note: “Is AI Your Ghostwriter?”

By Leoria Brexley

When people think of ghostwriters, they imagine someone behind the scenes, silently writing and shaping the entire story for an author. It’s a secret collaboration where the voice and ideas belong to the ghostwriter, not the named author. But when it comes to my writing process with AI, that couldn’t be further from the truth.

The Creative Vision Is Mine

First and foremost, every idea, plot twist, and character in my book Chime comes from me. The emotions, the moral dilemmas, and even the futuristic technology I’ve imagined are all parts of my creative vision. I’ve spent countless hours developing these concepts, honing the world-building, and ensuring that each scene reflects the themes I want to explore.

AI didn’t come up with these ideas—I did. What AI does for me is more like a thought organizer or a collaborator that helps me stay on track, particularly because I deal with anesthesia, a condition that impacts my memory and ability to visualize.

AI as a Memory Tool

One of the biggest challenges I face is maintaining continuity. Without a vivid visual memory, it’s easy for me to lose track of key details or forget how I envisioned a scene evolving. That’s where AI comes in. It acts as a partner, helping me recall the threads I’ve woven throughout the story and reminding me of elements that might otherwise slip through the cracks.

But make no mistake—AI isn’t doing the storytelling for me. It’s simply reminding me of what I’ve already created. It helps me keep track of the complex web of ideas and characters that I’ve designed.

Structuring the Story, Not Writing It

AI also plays a key role in helping me organize and structure the story. I provide the raw material—the characters, the world, the dialogue—and AI assists in refining that material. When I need help finding the right way to frame a scene or ensuring that the pacing flows smoothly, AI offers suggestions based on patterns I’ve established. But it’s up to me to decide if those suggestions fit the story I’m trying to tell.

I always have the final say. If I reject something, it’s because I know it doesn’t align with my creative intent. AI is not making those creative choices; it’s simply offering possibilities, like a trusted assistant helping to make sure nothing is forgotten or overlooked.

The Difference Between Ghostwriting and Collaboration

Calling AI my ghostwriter would be an oversimplification and, frankly, misleading. Ghostwriters take charge of the writing process—they’re often hired to write in someone else’s voice and develop someone else’s story. AI, in contrast, is a tool. It helps me process my ideas and streamline my thoughts, but it doesn’t write the story for me.

Think of AI as a type of enhanced writing assistant. It offers suggestions, helps with organization, and remembers details I might forget, but it doesn’t have the creativity or intent to invent the narrative. That’s all me.

Perception vs. Reality

In much the same way that I was once criticized for using a digital camera instead of traditional film, I’ve faced questions about whether using AI to assist in my writing somehow dilutes my creativity. But just as with my photography, where I won awards and recognition for my digital work, I believe the same principle applies here.

The use of modern tools doesn’t diminish creativity—it amplifies it. I don’t lack ideas or imagination. My creativity is the most vivid of anyone I know, even if I don’t visually see things in my mind. AI simply helps me capture and organize that creativity in a way that works for my process.

AI Helps, But I Lead

The bottom line is this: AI is not my ghostwriter. It’s a tool that helps me bring my ideas to life, not someone else’s. My creative journey with AI is about finding new ways to enhance and streamline my writing process, particularly in the face of the unique challenges I face with memory and visualization.

Just as a painter uses a brush or a musician uses an instrument, I use AI to help me tell my story. But the story is still mine, start to finish.