Would you use AI to write a WeChat post? Missing the human touch

In August 2026, I read a Beijing News report about WeChat testing AI writing and commenting features for Moments, its feed for sharing posts with friends. My first reaction was, “Oh no.” My partner had pretty much the same reaction.

That might sound a little dramatic. I often use AI myself to write code, look things up, and occasionally polish release notes. It’s useful. But Moments feels a little different to me.

Some friends write long posts. Others share a photo with a few emojis. Some find a song lyric they like or copy a quote that fits. The words aren’t always their own, but the way they choose and put things together still tells me something about them.

That’s part of what I enjoy seeing.

I’d rather not wonder who wrote it

People could already ask AI to write a caption and paste it into Moments. But if it becomes a button right there while you’re posting, and everyone knows about it, I worry I’ll start wondering when I read a friend’s post: did they write this themselves?

Using AI doesn’t mean a friend is being insincere. Still, reading with that question in mind would feel different. Instead of simply catching up with someone I know, I might find myself guessing how their words were written.

The report was about a limited test at the time, not a feature everyone could use. This is a worry I had after reading the news, not a prediction of what Moments will become. I just like being able to scroll through my friends’ posts without thinking about any of this.

Looking back, I might prefer my original words

I jot things down too. Sometimes it’s a complaint, or something small happens and I have a few words to say about it. It doesn’t seem particularly important at the time. I write it and move on.

But when I come across some of those notes later, they do bring things back. What I was busy with, why I was so annoyed, or how something so small made me that happy. If I wrote it again now, I might explain it more clearly. It might not sound the same, though.

So I generally don’t want AI to polish these notes. Whether they read smoothly matters less to me than keeping the way I said things at the time.

When I use flomo, I usually type my own notes or use voice input. Observations from everyday life, thoughts while reading—sometimes there’s quite a bit, sometimes just a few sentences. I won’t necessarily reread every entry. But when I do, I’d like to find the words I wanted to put down then.

Writing for yourself can involve plenty of editing. There’s no need to make it deliberately messy to keep it “human.” What matters to me is that two phrases can look similar but mean different things to the person writing them. Like changing “definitely” to “maybe” in a journal entry: it’s a small edit, but your thinking may have changed along with it.

For more on what those edits can tell us when we reread a journal, see When you reread your journal, will you remember changing “definitely” to “maybe”?.

Keep somewhere to write in your own words

I’ll keep using AI for work. If a tool saves me time and helps me do something well, I have no reason to avoid it. For words meant for myself, my family, or close friends, I’d rather take my time and write them myself, even if they aren’t as polished.

That preference also shaped Inks, the letter-writing app I make. I won’t add AI-generated writing or polishing. What to write and how to revise it will stay with the person writing the letter.

But you don’t need Inks for this. A notes app, a paper journal, or a quick complaint posted to friends can all serve that purpose. You don’t have to reach some insight every time. Something happened today, you have something to say about it, and you write it down yourself.

Years from now, I suspect I’ll prefer my original words. They may not be especially well written, but the way I spoke and the little things I cared about will still be there.