Writing for humans and AI: Why it matters and how to do it

No-one wants an AI system to misinterpret what they’ve written. We’re moving to an age where Large Language Models (LLMs) increasingly mediate how information reaches readers (for example, through summaries and recommendations). This means, as writers, it’s becoming important we understand how these systems process text.

We should state this isn’t about writing for machines. It’s about writing with awareness of how machines read, so your content:

1. Serves human needs more effectively, and
2. Goes through AI systems without losing its meaning.

The dual audience challenge

Creating content that works for both humans and LLMs requires an understanding of their fundamental differences, and their similarities.

The good news is that clarity benefits both audiences.

However, the way humans and LLMs process information differs significantly:

• Humans draw on cultural context, can reference ideas from earlier paragraphs, and can fill in gaps intuitively
• LLMs perform best with self-contained statements, explicit connections, and clear structural signals

LLMs rely on specific language patterns, keywords, and structured formatting to extract and convey accurate information. If your content is missing these elements, even a well-written piece can be mangled by an AI system.

Building a solution

At Cherryleaf, we’ve been developing AI-powered tools can review and optimise draft content for both humans and LLMs.

You can paste or upload a document, and the app:

• Evaluates readability for both audiences
• Identifies potential issues
• Suggests specific improvements

The objective is to enable you to write content that works for both human readers and AI systems (i.e. they interpret and represent your message accurately).

Doing it yourself

We can teach you and your team how to do it too, via our AI training workshops. You’ll learn to apply these principles yourself, and build your own AI apps and systems for reviewing and optimising draft content. You’ll acquire the skills to create dual-optimised content consistently.

Contact us to learn more.