AI can write, why do you still need to learn writing? The third edition of "Slow Reading and Understanding in Seconds" starts again

I want to leave a small memorial for a book that has been with me for many years.

The third edition of “Slow Reading and Understanding in Seconds: Vista’s Introductory Copywriting Course” is officially available to you. It is a very lucky thing for a book to be published; it is not a matter of course for the author to be remembered by readers all the way to the second and third editions.

So today, instead of saying “my book is reprinted”, what I want to say is: thank you. Thank you to the publisher for your trust and support all the way, and to every reader who has bought this book, read it, used it to highlight key points in class, and even recommended it to friends, colleagues, and students.

A book takes on a life of its own after it leaves the author’s computer.

Sometimes, I would meet readers in class, and they would ask me to sign a book that was already well-thumbed and labeled. Some people also told me that they bought this book because they wanted to learn to write copywriting, and later started writing about communities, building brands, and managing their own content, and even started a new job and life because of it.

Every time I hear these stories, I think again: the really interesting thing about writing is never just writing a sentence beautifully, but sending the thoughts in one person’s mind into another person’s mind through words.

If you want to take this book home, you can go to Book Purchase Link (opens in a new tab).

AI can write, why do we still need to learn writing?

This is why, in the AI era, I believe more and more: writing has not become unimportant, but has become more important. Because AI makes it easier than ever to generate text.

In the past, what we worried about was that we couldn’t write it; now, the bigger problem may be that everyone can write it. ChatGPT can write an article in a few seconds, Claude can help you organize information, and various AI tools can generate titles, posts, advertisements, scripts, and plans for you.

There are more words, but the number of words that are truly worth reading has not increased. As a result, the value of writing is quietly changing.

In the past, we learned writing just to write down our thoughts; now we learn writing to learn to think, judge, choose and express.

You need to know what is worth saying and what is not worth saying. You have to know that there can be ten ways to say the same thing, but which one is your way. You have to know that the answers AI gives you may seem complete, but they are actually empty; they may seem professional, but they actually have no opinions. You even need to be able to tell the AI: “This is not what I want.”

To a certain extent, what the AI era needs most may not be more people who can type, but more people who know why they write.

Tools will change, but the ability to explain things clearly will never become obsolete.

This is also my deeper and deeper understanding after teaching copywriting, content, and AI over the years:

Tools will keep changing, platforms will keep changing, and algorithms will keep changing, but a person’s ability to think things through, explain things clearly, and make others willing to believe, remember, and act will never become outdated.

From blogs, Facebook, Instagram, to short videos, podcasts, and today’s generative AI, we have actually been facing different media.

But behind the media, there are always people.

People will still be moved by stories, resonate with one sentence, change their views because of a point of view, and decide to know you, trust you, and even take action because of a piece of writing.

Not only learn how to write copy, but also learn how to let the world understand you

This is probably the sentence I most want to give to readers again when “Slow Reading and Understanding in Seconds” comes out to the third edition:

Don’t just learn how to write copy, but also learn how to understand the world through words and let the world understand you.

Thank you to the publisher for allowing this book to continue. Thank you to every reader who has taken it home along the way.

The third version is on the market, so of course I have to ask you all to continue to support it (laughs).

If you have read it before, you are also welcome to recommend it to friends who are learning writing, doing marketing, managing brands, or are thinking “AI can write, do I still need to learn writing?”

If you haven’t read this book yet, maybe now is a good time. Because we have entered an era where everyone has AI.

And when everyone has the same powerful tools, what really makes the difference is your perspective on things, your judgment, and your ability to write down your thoughts.

The third edition of “Slow Reading and Understanding in Seconds: Vista’s Introductory Copywriting Course” starts again today.

Thank you everyone for accompanying it to this point. Next, please continue to give me advice and support.

If you are ready to start learning to write, create content, or think about expression in the AI era, you are welcome to go to buy the book (opens in a new tab) and take this book home.