AI Tools for Content Creators — From Writing to Video

I create content across four channels: blog, YouTube, podcast, and social media. Here's how AI fits into each workflow.

Writing: Claude + Grammarly

Claude is my brainstorming partner and first-draft accelerator. I don't ask it to write articles for me — I ask it to argue with my ideas, suggest angles I haven't considered, and draft technical sections I'll rewrite in my voice.

Grammarly catches the embarrassing stuff. Typos in published articles are unprofessional. This is insurance, not creativity.

I tried dedicated AI writing tools (Jasper, Copy.ai, Writesonic). They're wrappers around the same models with templates I don't need. Claude direct is better and cheaper.

Video: Descript + Captions

Descript changed my video workflow completely. I edit video by editing text. Record a 30-minute session, delete the bad parts from the transcript, and Descript cuts the video to match. Filler word removal alone saves hours of manual editing.

Captions for short-form content. Auto-captions with good styling, eye contact correction (yes, it works), and quick formatting for TikTok/Reels. $10/mo for features that used to require After Effects.

For AI-generated video (text-to-video), I experimented with Runway and Synthesia. They're impressive demos but I haven't found a use case where they beat actual footage for my content.

Podcast: Descript + Adobe Podcast

Descript for editing (same text-based workflow as video). Adobe Podcast for audio enhancement — its Enhance Speech feature is free and turns mediocre recordings into professional-sounding audio. I record in my home office without acoustic treatment and it sounds like a studio.

Images: Midjourney + Canva

Midjourney for hero images, blog thumbnails, and creative visuals. The quality justifies the $10/mo. Canva for everything else — social graphics, infographics, YouTube thumbnails with text. Canva's AI image generation is getting good enough that I use it for quick needs and save Midjourney for when aesthetics really matter.

Social media: manually + Claude for drafts

I tried every AI social media tool. They all produce generic-sounding posts. What works better: I write the core idea myself (30 seconds), then ask Claude to create 3 variations (10 seconds), then pick the best one and add my personality (30 seconds). Total: ~70 seconds per post instead of 5 minutes.

The total stack cost

Descript: $33/mo. Captions: $10/mo. Midjourney: $10/mo. Canva: $13/mo. Grammarly: free. Claude: free tier. Adobe Podcast: free. Total: $66/mo for a complete content operation.