Cover Letters: Why AI is Not My Solution

As I apply and apply and apply (oh, and apply) for jobs, a friend keeps telling me to use AI to write cover letters. But I can’t. I mean, I can physically manipulate ChatGPT or Bard to do it, but ethically, it’s a hurdle I don’t want to jump.

I’ve played around with it and the results are lackluster, but with a few revisions, I can get my letters perfected, riddled with all the keywords and job description terminology that the ensuing AI scanner will like to see – but I won’t. That’s a broken system that I, as a writer, don’t want to contribute to now.

I can hear the little voice in my head:

Well that’s why you aren’t getting interviews.

Yes, perhaps that’s valid.

But what good is it to apply as a content provider, a writer, and a storyteller when I am relying on AI to tell the one story I know best? My story should be shooting out of my fingertips onto the screen without needing to filter it through an AI tool. If I can’t do that, do I ever deserve the job?

Well that’s why someone else got the job.

Yes, still very valid.

If all I am doing is plugging in keywords to trick an AI/HR tool to read my cover letter and get it in front of an actual decision maker, I need to reevaluate my career choices. I don’t want to work as an extension of artificial intelligence. I don’t want to play a game with my career. I want to bring real voice, passion, and integrity to my craft. I want to push content solutions and storytelling out of their framework and into new territories.

Well that’s why you’re still spending all your time writing cover letters.

Jesus, I know. Valid again.

Having the courage to say no, however, may be veiled thickly with a layer of stupidity, but if we keep saying yes to AI, where does it stop? The recent writers’ strike proves that these conversations are worth happening, and that the industry will listen. The shiny new toy quality of ChatGPT will fade and it will become a tool just like any other, but it still forces us to question our value as human writers and what we bring to the table.

Well that’s why you’re writing this blog post for free and not at work.

OK, I think that’s enough from you, little voice in my head.

Maybe I should stop resisting and use these hacks to get a job. It may make a difference. Then again, maybe not. I’m not ready to sacrifice my pride just yet. I know how to write a human cover letter, to showcase my talents, and to tell my story to a future employer how I see fit. If they want me to use specific keywords to get past a bot, tell me and I can do it – because I am a team player and know how to adapt and take direction.

In the end, I want colleagues to see me as a human being first and foremost, as someone they can relate to, as someone they want to interact with each day. My writing conveys that with subtleties, maybe some humor, a little character even. I don’t want — or need — to convey that through an AI tool.

Well, that’s why –

SHUT UP.