Emma Thompson calls out AI for meddling with her writing - and writers get it
Emma Thompson didn't hold back on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert. While promoting her new series, Down Cemetery Road, she said she feels "intense irritation" with AI butting into her creative process.
"Because I write longhand on a pad. Old script, actually. Because I believe that there's a connection between the brain and the hand," she said. Colbert agreed, adding he also writes by hand to memorize lines.
Her frustration spikes once the work hits a document: "When I've written something, I will put it into a word document. And, recently, the word document is constantly saying, 'Would you like me to rewrite that for you?'"
Thompson's response was blunt: "I don't need you to f-king rewrite what I've just written. Will you f-k off? Just f-k off. I'm so annoyed."
Why this hits home for working writers
Constant AI prompts can break flow, dilute voice, and push you toward generic phrasing. Suggestions feel helpful, but they nudge choices you didn't mean to make.
The fix isn't anti-tech. It's control. Use tools on your terms, not as a backseat driver rewriting your sentences mid-thought.
Practical guardrails to protect your voice
- First draft offline. Write in a distraction-free app or longhand. Transfer to your editor after the idea is set.
- Kill unsolicited AI prompts. Turn off "rewrite" pop-ups and smart suggestions in your editor's settings. Disable any extensions that auto-suggest phrasing.
- Constrain AI to clear jobs. Research summaries, fact checks, headline variations, or grammar-only passes. Keep stylistic decisions human.
- Set intent before you open tools. One line at the top: "Voice-first draft. No rewrites." It keeps you honest.
- Use a style guard. If you do use AI, prime it with "Do not change tone, cadence, or sentence length. Only surface issues or questions."
- Snapshot your draft. Save a clean version before any edits so you can restore your original voice in seconds.
- Write by hand when stakes are high. There's evidence longhand deepens processing and retention. See: The Pen Is Mightier Than the Keyboard study in Psychological Science here.
If you choose to use AI, be intentional
Define the boundaries once and reuse them. Build a simple checklist for each draft: Where AI helps, where it doesn't, and your non-negotiables for voice and structure.
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Down Cemetery Road: what to expect
The thriller opens with a house explosion in a quiet Oxford suburb, after which a girl goes missing. Neighbor Sarah Tucker (Ruth Wilson) becomes obsessed with finding her and brings in private investigator Zoe Boehm (Emma Thompson).
Release date: Down Cemetery Road premieres October 29.
Bottom line
Thompson's point lands: tools should serve the writer, not interrupt the sentence. Protect your voice, set boundaries, and keep control of the page. Use AI as a scalpel, not a ghostwriter.
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