Which tool to choose
The tool is the conversational assistant: you give it the ingredients — what the document is about, who it's for, what it needs to achieve — and it builds. If you have data or materials, provide them (pasted or uploaded) so it works on your content and not on generalities. For recurring documents, keep a template to fill in each time. The practical rule: AI is the editor who gives you structure and style; you are the author who brings the facts and answers for what the document says.
How to do it
- Explain the purpose, recipient, length and tone: internal or official, concise or detailed.
- Provide the real content — data, points, materials — instead of letting the AI invent it.
- Have it give you structure and a first draft, then ask for the revisions: shorter, more formal, reorder this part.
- Reread and verify the facts and figures before delivering: the document carries your signature.
A concrete example
Marta had to deliver an account of how a project was going. She had the data and the notes, but she froze in front of the blank page. She gave the AI the figures, the main facts and the recipient (management), asking for a formal, concise account. The assistant returned a well-structured text — summary, results, critical points, next steps — which she refined and whose data she verified. In an hour she delivered a document she would have put off for days on her own, but the facts inside were hers, checked.
When it does NOT work (and how to fix it)
If the text is well written but inaccurate
This is the most insidious risk: AI writes with confidence even when statements are wrong or invented. That's why you supply the content and you verify the facts. An elegant document with a wrong figure is worse than a rough but correct one.
If the tone isn't the right one
A report to management and a note to colleagues call for different registers. Tell the AI the recipient and the level of formality, and if needed give it an example of a similar document. The wrong tone shows immediately in a professional context.
If it becomes too long and verbose
AI tends to pad. Ask it to trim: get to the point, cut the roundabout phrasing, stay within a certain length. A work document is also judged by its ability not to waste the reader's time.
A tip from someone who really uses it
Give the AI the facts and leave it the form, never the other way around. The beginner's mistake is to ask "write me a report on this topic" and receive a polished, empty text full of generic sentences that could apply to anyone. The value of a work document lies in its specific content — your data, your conclusions, your context — and that's exactly what AI doesn't have. Supply the substance yourself and use it for what it's unbeatable at: structuring it, giving it a professional tone, turning notes into prose. That way you get a document that's truly yours, well written, in a fraction of the time.
Frequently asked questions
Can AI write the report for me?
It can write the form, not the substance: without your data and your conclusions it produces a generic text. Give it the real content and use it to structure it and give it a professional tone, then verify and sign it yourself.
How do I get the right tone for the context?
By telling the AI who's reading and how formal it needs to be, and if you can, giving it an example of a similar document. The register of an official report is different from that of an internal note.
Do I have to verify what it writes?
Yes, always, especially data and facts. AI writes imprecise things well too: the final check is yours, because the document answers to you.
If I give it the topic, will it produce a complete, reliable report?
No, and that's the illusion that leads to delivering empty or wrong documents. Given only the topic, AI fills in with generalities and, where it doesn't know, invents with the same confidence it uses to write the correct things. The result looks complete but contains none of your facts, and might contain false ones. A reliable report comes from the content you supply and the check you do before delivering. Relying on the topic alone is the fastest way to put your signature on a document that says things you haven't verified.