AI Use and Writing Standards

published February, 2026

edited May, 2026

Why This Exists

When I publish under my name, issue professional evaluations or provide sworn testimony, I stand behind my words. They accumulate across time (I have left articles up on this site even if I no longer like the style, arguments or anger in them, as they are my intellectual record). My words carry reputational, professional and legal weight.

AI generates fluent language without bearing responsibility. This code exists to prevent abdication of intellectual, moral and professional responsibility while allowing legitimate structural and technical amplification.

I have found AI to be massively helpful in organizing my ideas and editing my work. Occasionally, the AI models I use (ChatGPT and Claude) try to suggest sentences and paragraphs. I reject them; they don’t sound like me. They offer up words that I don’t use in my writing. Even during the editing process, AI sometimes tries to smooth over my points. I do not accept it when it wants me to avoid controversy; however, I do accept that editorial advice when my writing puts me at legal risk.

Because of all that, I use AI tools under defined constraints.

This page explains those constraints.

Core Principles

1. Authorship Requires Ownership

All thoughts and words are mine. I do not let AI brainstorm for me. Too be clear, it can’t generate ideas like me. I do not let AI write for me. Partly because it isn’t intellectually honest, and partly because it can’t write as well as me. Even as the technology improves, it can never be as good, because it can’t have physical experiences or understand love or grief or hope.

AI does not write any sentences for me.

AI does not generate my moral positions, clinical judgments, forensic opinions or final evaluative conclusions.

2. AI Has No Accountability

AI produces, at first glance, passable writing. But that writing is just a massive algorithm; for AI, there is no thought or meaning behind those words. Many people, from unknown to famous, believe they are seeing a ghost in the machine when they are chatting. They are not. AI writing does not equal authority, responsibility or understanding.

3. Moral and Forensic Claims Must Not Exceed Evidence

I have a standing order to the AI models for the following:

  • if I claim negligence exists, I may not imply intent
  • if evidence supports correlation, I may not assert causation
  • in forensic contexts, my conclusions must remain within documented findings and established standards; I may not make an emotional claim or explicitly urge a court on a particular path

This precision protects my credibility and helps me avoid potential legal issues.

4. AI is a Tool, Not a Substitute

AI may assist preparation, structure and refinement. It may not write for me.

5. AI is a force multiplier

AI can strengthen expertise and efficiency, but it can also amplify shallow understanding and overconfidence. The way I use it makes me more efficient; the way some students and workers use it prevents them from learning new skills and may erode existing ones.

Permissible Uses

I may use AI tools for:

  • Organizing ideas I have already generated
  • Extracting themes from prior work
  • Identifying logical gaps or overstatement
  • Mechanical editing (spelling, grammar, repetition)
  • Stress-testing clarity and structure
  • Identifying potentially relevant legal authorities, which I independently verify
  • Data collation and formatting
  • Refining clarity and efficiency in professional evaluations, with full de-identification
  • Provide counter arguments to diagnosis
  • Provide counter arguments to my arguments
  • Preparing for court by organizing arguments, reviewing structure and stress-testing cross-examination vulnerabilities
  • Identifying overstatement, implied intent and unsupported causal claims
  • Assess my writing for ethical or legal risks
  • Creating graphs and charts from government and other publicly available data for my classes and presentations
  • Storing articles for me to come back to later

Clinical and Forensic Safeguards

  • No identifying client information is entered.
  • No reconstruction of missing details occurs.
  • AI does not generate diagnostic conclusions, forensic opinions or sworn testimony.
  • Final opinions and testimony are mine alone.
  • All legal authorities are independently reviewed prior to use in court or publication.

AI may assist in editing for clarity and structural preparation. It does not participate in care or testimony.

Legal and Technical References

Where legal standards, statutes or case law are discussed:

  • AI tools may assist in identifying potentially relevant authorities.
  • All cited materials are independently reviewed prior to publication or testimony.
  • Responsibility for accuracy and interpretation remains solely mine.

Authorship and Intellectual Lineage

The historical, literary and cultural references in my writing reflect my own intellectual formation. I will never ask for, nor will I ever use, a historical, literary or cultural example that AI suggests. My parents and I have referenced Gatsby to each other my entire life. Orwell is my role model for political writing. Stan Lee helped shape my values. Shakespeare taught me to see complexity. It is of the utmost importance that I have lived with those examples prior to writing or speaking about them.

Disclosure

When AI materially assists structural organization or legal reference identification, I will disclose that assistance.

I regularly use AI for mechanical editing of spelling, grammar and repetition.

All ideas, references, arguments and writing are mine.

Scope

This framework governs my use of AI in:

  • Academic writing
  • Professional essays
  • Teaching-related materials
  • Clinical skill refinement
  • Editing and efficiency in evaluations
  • Preparation for court testimony

It does not address broader societal or economic questions about AI. It establishes the professional standards I apply to my own work. AI has absolutely helped me organize and sharpen my work. I am very grateful that it did not appear when I was 15, because I would have used to do work for me and I would not have developed the same way.

Disclosure: Structural organization, editing and risk-review assistance were provided by a large language model in accordance with my AI Use & Writing Standards. All arguments, interpretations and conclusions are my own.
https://greenagel.com/ai-use-and-writing-standards/