I prompt AI to write at a 7th-grade level
The author explains why they instruct AI to write at a 7th-grade reading level: it improves clarity, accessibility, and engagement for a broader audience. They argue that simpler language does not mean dumbing down content, but rather making it more direct and understandable.
Background
- The article discusses "ELA7" — a writing level roughly equivalent to 7th-grade English Language Arts in the U.S. school system. This means clear, straightforward sentences, simple vocabulary, and short paragraphs, similar to what you'd find in middle-school textbooks or young-adult novels.
- The author explains why they prompt AI (e.g., ChatGPT, Claude) to write at this level: complex, academic, or "corporate" language from AI often obscures meaning, while simpler writing is more direct, easier to scan, and more likely to be understood by a broad audience.
- This fits into a broader trend in prompt engineering — the practice of crafting specific instructions for AI models to get desired output. Many power users find that telling an AI to "write for a 7th-grade reading level" improves clarity without dumbing down the content.
- The underlying assumption is that clear writing signals clear thinking; verbose AI output is often hiding lack of substance behind fancy words. The author sees the ELA7 prompt as a tool for cutting through AI's tendency to produce bloated, vague prose.