by Andi Benjamin
In the 1991 hit song (and bona fide earworm) “More Than Words,” Gary Cherone, lead singer of Extreme, laments that talk is cheap and mentions taking words away. He won’t believe that his partner truly loves him and demands that she show her love rather than merely tell him. Only then would he be convinced.
John Warner’s recent book, More Than Words: How to Think About Writing in the Age of AI, is about generative AI – a technology that didn’t exist when “More Than Words” (the song) was released. (Though it’s safe to assume that Cherone would not have been impressed, had his partner used ChatGPT to express her feelings toward him.)
In the book, Warner, a college writing instructor, describes how writers in general (and his students in particular) use AI. In his opinion, generative AI doesn’t necessarily take away words, as mentioned in the song. But it does remove an essential and deeply meaningful aspect of the writing process.
Warner draws attention to some of the major problems with generative AI: It is built on a foundation of exploited labour, it harms the environment, and it could enshrine bias. But he also acknowledges that it has amazing features: specifically, it’s a brilliant tool for processing text. However, he argues that processing text is ultimately not the same as writing. Writing is much deeper and more complex. It is a fully embodied experience that requires thinking and feeling. Since AI can neither think nor feel, it is not capable of writing.
Referencing the work of Emily Bender, a computer linguistics professor and pioneering AI researcher, Warner suggests that the term artificial intelligence is a misnomer, since AI does not possess or exhibit intelligence. Accordingly, it should be viewed as a form of automation, something akin to the invention of the calculator, which automated the mechanical operations of math (Warner 2025, 26).
Writing as thinking and feeling
What AI does really well is present us with “an opportunity to reconsider exactly what we value and why we value those things” (Warner 2025, 6). AI forces us to grapple with what is important in our lives. Warner states that AI has successfully illuminated two of our most precious values: thinking and feeling.
Warner devotes a whole chapter to the idea that writing is not merely the act of generating words on a page; it goes beyond correct syntax and proper grammar (Warner 2025, 61). Writing is actually thinking. He explains (2025, 61):
Writing involves both the expression of an idea and the exploration of an idea – that is, when writing, you set out with the intention to say something, but as part of the attempt to capture an idea, the idea itself is altered through the thinking that happens as you consider your subject.
To Warner, writing is the embodied act of thinking and feeling. And because only humans can think and feel, it stands to reason that only humans can write. If we want to understand how generative AI can best serve us, we must appreciate the fact that writing matters insofar as it compels us to think and feel.
Writing as a slog: Process vs. outcome
Another point that Warner emphasizes throughout the book is that writing is a practice. It is process-oriented, as opposed to outcome-oriented.
He draws an amusing comparison between writing and his experience subscribing to the meal prep service HelloFresh. HelloFresh provides pre-portioned ingredients and illustrated step-by-step instructions. It is supposedly foolproof, even for the most amateur cooks. But Warner reports that the results weren’t great. “Cooking,” he discovered, “is not just following instructions on meal prep packages. It is a dynamic process with multiple factors intersecting in understandable but also infinitely variable ways” (Warner 2025, 91). Through dedicated practice, good cooks have developed distinct abilities, what Warner calls the four dimensions of practice: skills, attitudes, knowledge, and habits of mind. Similarly, excellent writers must be able to conceive, draft, revise, and edit their writing. But this is only possible by diligently cultivating the four dimensions of practice.
Building a writing practice is not easy; it can be time-consuming and arduous. (The same holds true of editing.) This is why generative AI tools are so appealing; they purport to eliminate the pains associated with writing, freeing writers from their angst. But Warner maintains that while it’s true that writing is inherently difficult, it “involves a wonderful kind of difficulty in which our grasp continually falls short of our reach” (Warner 2025, 279). In other words, writers should embrace the struggle that’s contained in the writing process, rather than try to resist it by relying on generative AI, because truly engaging with words is a uniquely human activity that cannot be automated and cannot be done well without some level of discomfort.
Final words
In More Than Words, Warner challenges us to reconsider what writing means in an era of automation. While AI can process language with impressive speed, it cannot replicate the essential human acts of thinking and feeling. Nor can it replace the powerful and necessary element of struggle that writing demands. Warner’s message is that writing is about so much more than producing words, and when we authentically engage with the process, we ultimately affirm our humanity.
Andi Benjamin, MA, JD, is a legal editor and writer based in Toronto. She is the owner of AB Edits.
This article was copy edited by Joy Moskovic (she/her), an editor and communications professional living in Ottawa. She is the owner of The Joy of Editing.
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