I have long admired the creative writing skills of some of Ghana's prolific journalists like Kwesi Pratt and my newest obsession, Manasseh Azure Awuni. They all hooked me to their articles with their unique writing skills and the creative thinking they incorporated in stories.

The exceptional blend of ingenuity and the brilliant command over the King’s language held the very spine of the story they told. They are some of Ghana's most venerable journalists to have ever graced the media profession. Their works encapsulated in well-articulated thoughts continue to inspire generations.

Respected journalist and Executive Director of the Media Foundation for West Africa, Sulemana Braimah, once told me “journalism is all about writing. It’s not about the ability to stand in front of a camera to rattle English”. With this as a watchword, I have always believed a good journalist is not only marked by the ability to press necks and ask the critical questions, but employing the unique skills in putting the answers received into flowery and ingenious stories to be consumed by their audience.

A good journalist, I have come to believe, is marked by their creativity, ingenuity, credibility, independence and boldness.

In this piece, I wish to highlight the two values, Creativity and Ingenuity, which could be at the mercy of emerging technologies.

Globally, a silent debate is taking place in newsrooms and studios on whether or not artificial intelligence (AI) is helping writers or quietly replacing their creative spark? As AI-powered tools become more sophisticated—capable of producing almost everything from poetry to political analysis—many are questioning whether the emergence of AI is undermining the essence of human creativity in journalism and creative writing.

The AI Boom in Writing

Artificial intelligence systems, like ChatGPT, are now usually used to facilitate content generation, story ideation, and editing.

As journalists are always pressed for time to complete stories, these tools promise efficiency while helping content creators to also scale output. In some newsrooms, AI drafts financial reports or other pertinent reports before a human editor gives it a final polish. For creative writers, AI can suggest plots, write dialogue, or even co-author entire novels.

But as these systems get better, critics are perturbed that the reliance on these tools could dilute originality, oversimplify complex issues, and push aside the unique voice that defines great writing.

The Creativity Puzzle

Creative writing - from journalism to fiction - is rooted in perspective, emotion, and the unpredictable leaps of human thought. While AI imitates great writing, critics portend it often lacks the nuance, ambiguity, and emotional resonance that comes from authentic human insight.

A 2024 study from the University of Oxford found that while readers rated AI-generated news stories as "informative", they consistently rated human-written stories higher for depth and originality.

The Pressure to Automate

The growing use of AI in content production is also reshaping the economics of writing. News outlets under pressure to cut costs are turning to AI to produce more with less. Freelancers and young writers report increasing difficulty finding work as editorial teams rely on automation to fill content pipelines.

Collaboration or Competition?

Not everyone sees AI as a threat. Some writers embrace it as a collaborative tool, using it to overcome writer’s block, test new styles, or explore unfamiliar genres. They view AI as less a rival and more a new kind of creative partner—like a high-speed brainstorming assistant.

The Road Ahead

As AI continues to evolve, the future of writing may hinge on how these tools are integrated into the creative process. The danger isn’t that machines will become better writers than humans—but that humans may stop trying to be.

Protecting ingenuity in the age of AI will require a reassertion of the value of human perspective in storytelling. Editors, publishers, and educators may need to rethink what they reward—not just speed or output, but voice, insight, and originality.

But a question which continues to linger in my mind is “whether or not judges for some of the prestigious journalistic awards still consider creative writing as a parameter for awarding a piece?”

Because in the end, while machines can write, only humans can truly say something.

I wrote this piece after I was utterly blown away by a beautiful article I chanced on a news portal only to be told it was written with Artificial Intelligence.