Body Shaming, Fad Diets, and Artificial Intelligence — What’s the Link?

So how do these things go together?

It’s one I’ve been thinking about a lot lately.

Recently, I stopped drinking. For health reasons, for mental health reasons, for everything-in-my-life reasons.

And with that one change, my body changed too.

I lost a stone without trying. Literally.

Don't hate me, I have a point, bear with me.

I didn’t “work” for it. I just stopped pouring wine into myself and waiting for the next episode to autoplay while demolishing a whole packet of Oreos.

And now?

People are asking if I’m okay. Concerned about my weight. Wondering if I’m ill.

Ironically, no one ever asked when I was hiding behind alcohol, sugar, and the glow of Netflix. But now I’m sober and well — and thin — the alarm bells go off.

Funny, isn’t it?

I’ve always been naturally scrawny. Fast metabolism, bony elbows, and a teenage history of people assuming I was anorexic or bulimic when I wasn’t either.

And yet, saying “that’s just me” feels like something I have to apologise for. I feel guilty even acknowledging that the weight just fell off — because I know that’s not the reality for many people. It feels like some weird form of reverse body shaming: shame in being well, shame in being naturally slim, shame in not struggling in the “right” way.

And weirdly, that same guilt, that same shame, bubbles up when I think about AI and creativity.

You see, I’ve started writing again. But because, well… I’m currently ‘open to work' (as promoted by LinkedIn) N.B.; Get in touch if you have jobs guys!

UX and research gigs have dried up (thanks, AI), and writing is something I’d almost forgotten was my natural go to.

But using AI? It’s a bit like a fad diet. It works — sure.

It spits things out fast, efficiently. It can take an idea and turn it into something semi-decent in less time than it takes me to make a cup of tea.

But it’s not sustainable. And it’s not human.

I've been experimenting with a bunch of tools — feeding them concepts, tweaking copy I’d already written, comparing the results. And what’s consistently missing, no matter how clever the code: personality, empathy, humour, resonance.

Especially in marketing. Especially in storytelling. AI can replicate tone, but not feel. It can mimic a voice, but, at the end of the day, it doesn't have one.

That’s the thing. And that thing is important.

Much like the diet industry, AI promises quick fixes and instant results.

It’s shiny and new and seemingly effortless. But just like the “drop a dress size in a week” trend, there’s a hollowness to it.

It’s not that the results are fake — it’s that they’re disconnected. They lack the messiness, the nuance, the personality and instinct that only a human brings.

I’ll probably drop this blog post into AI before I publish. Just to tidy it up. But then I’ll edit it — because it has to sound like me. And more importantly, it has to feel like me.

So here’s the link: Body shame, fad diets, and AI all tell us we should be something other than what we are. That there’s a shortcut to being “better.” That we’re not quite enough as we are.

But we are.

You are.

And I am too.

The trick — in writing, in work, in life, in everything — is remembering that shortcuts aren’t the same as a human voice and experience.

Tools aren’t replacements.

Authenticity isn’t something you can automate.

Be responsible. Use the tools. Edit the drafts.

Don’t forget who you are underneath all of it.

Your voice?

That’s what real people actually want to hear.

If you'd like to read something more creative, and also not AI driven, you can visit my other website, Small Stories here. Hope you enjoy.