Why AI is triggering medical writers, and the real threat no one’s talking about.
On August 27, 2025, I hosted a live webinar with The American Medical Writers Association (AMWA) about under-utilized AI tools for medical writers, and the chat BLEW UP with controversial comments. I couldn’t address them all in the moment. So, let’s do so now through the lens of freelancing, specifically.
Artificial intelligence is clearly still a very triggering topic for medical writers of all experience levels. As such, I’m going to take this opportunity to talk about the deeper goings on that were uncovered during the webinar, to assist those who want to get (or keep) clients in this field and stay relevant.
Narrow thinking about AI devalues our profession
Most attendees of my AMWA webinar were under the impression that AI tools, such as ChatGPT and Claude, are simply ways for medical writers to speed up or optimize their writing—writing that they already do for their full-time employer or freelance clients.
The thinking is that we—medical writers—will get to the final product one way or the other, so we may as well use AI to help us. The problem with this (frankly, shocking) mentality is that it implies our outputs are interchangeable. That anyone could ‘do it’ so long as they have access to an AI tool. However, if that’s the case, clients will always default to the cheapest option available, and none of our businesses will be freeing or sustainable.
The idea that what a medical writer produces can also be produced with AI, and that it’s just a matter of speeding things up, is deeply offensive to those of us who genuinely take pride in our work and strive to create documents of the highest calibre—to keep our reputation intact, and give our businesses optimal conditions for growth. And this is why AI is such a triggering topic for everyone—the best writers don’t want to feel undervalued, and the worst writers don’t want to get left behind.
Medical writers are not vendors of words; we are strategic partners for our clients. We are skilled communicators, able to differentiate between great writing, poor writing, and everything in between. By extension, we should be able to work with AI in such a way that enhances our own efforts, rather than replacing or automating them. This is the sentiment I conveyed in my webinar.
What’s most interesting here is that, paradoxically, medical writers themselves approaching AI tools as vendors of words is actually making AI feel like a threat. When, in reality, it’s their own lack of imagination that’s the threat—their inability to see AI tools for their enormous potential, which can be unleashed when led by someone who is a true leader in their field.
Shallow adoption of AI amplifies scarcity mindsets
You don’t have to look very hard to find someone complaining that there isn’t enough freelance medical writing work to go around. However, the medcomms industry is currently valued at $6.9 billion and showing no signs of stopping. Pharmaceuticals aren’t going anywhere. New medical devices are approved on the daily. Healthcare is digitizing like nobody’s business. Medical writers are needed more than ever. Yet, Susan and Ted are still telling everyone at networking events that ‘Things aren’t how they used to be.’ Meanwhile, medical writers who are fully embracing AI tools are inundated with work, irrespective of whether they have an advanced degree, in-house work experience, or a large network.
What’s really happening here is that scarcity mindsets feed upon each other, to the point where there’s always an excuse as to why you don’t have enough work and it keeps you stuck there, in your comfort zone. In reality, you and only you are responsible for the fact that you don’t have enough work. What proportion of that $6.9 billion are you aiming for, anyway? If you spent just as much time learning how to properly utilize AI tools instead of complaining about the lack of work, you’d be a multi-millionaire in ten years. Fact.
If you’re a freelance medical writer, or aspire to become one, you’ve got to start thinking about AI in more expansive, creative ways if you’re going to rise to the top of this field. AI can do far more than help us write reports, format tables, and analyze data. But if you only see AI as a writing support tool, your scarcity mindset will become a self-fulfilling prophecy because you’ll be competing where the market is oversaturated instead of where your clients actually need you to be.
On the other hand, if you’re open to exploring new and outside-the-box ways of leveraging AI tools as a medical writer—e.g., business development, client positioning, strategic networking—you’ll get access to a much bigger slice of the pie. Not only that, it’ll be in your favourite flavour, cooked to perfection, with a solid gold fork and all the delicious toppings you can imagine!
“Efficiency” creates a false sense of security
If medical writers focus on AI tools purely as a way to get things done quicker or more efficiently, it’s a slippery slope. As soon as we start chasing ‘faster deliverables,’ it puts us in an arms race with AI itself (that we’ll never win). Our clients don’t care if a draft takes one hour or three, just as they don’t need to know our hourly rate if we’re charging a flat fee. The best clients care about insight, accuracy, and impact. Does it achieve the desired objectives? Does it inform, guide, or persuade our audience? Is it helping their business grow? That’s it. If speed is your only differentiator, you’ll always be undercut.
This is why medical writers who have a poor understanding of AI’s potential, and the medcomms industry at large, are getting anxious and uptight about the way things are heading. They tried ignoring it—it didn’t go anywhere. They tried proving its inferiority—that didn’t accomplish anything. And now they’re reluctantly jumping on the bandwagon (more like being dragged along behind it!).
“The irony is that writers fixated on ‘AI-for-writing’ think they’re future-proofing, when they’re actually anchoring themselves to yesterday’s jobs.”
‘Efficiency’ is essentially a buzzword that’s very easy to put together with AI as an oversimplification of what is really an incredible, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for business owners and medical writers everywhere. I’m excited to be in the medcomms industry at this time, especially for the opportunities my students are being exposed to and becoming fully prepared to enter into. They know what it takes to succeed as a freelance medical writer in 2025 and beyond, and I’m challenging them every day to find their own ways of partnering with AI to build sustainable, authentic businesses that will grow with them and stand the test of time.
Key takeaways
The path forward for freelance medical writers is clear: stop treating AI as a threat or a shortcut, and start treating it as a strategic partner. This means experimenting, adapting, and asking bigger questions than “How can this make me faster?” The writers who thrive won’t be those who cling to old methods or blindly chase efficiency. They’ll reimagine their role entirely, positioning themselves as innovators who use AI to expand possibilities for their clients, other businesses, and the medcomms industry at large.
Where to go from here
It’s a shame that many of the attendees of my webinar on under-utilized AI tools weren’t open-minded enough to listen in and expand their horizons in a way they haven’t before. It was a fantastic opportunity for them to grow as medical writing professionals, and very few took it.
The saddest part is that the people who needed it the most are the same people who didn’t want or appreciate it. But this is exactly how competitive advantages work—not everyone has them. That’s precisely why I only work with 10 V.I.P.s a year. I take them under my wing and help them step into their own powerful entrepreneurial selves, bringing AI along as our trusty, crazy yet brilliant, and very welcome companion.
Prospology’s curriculum stands proudly alongside AI tools, with inspiring use cases, technical capabilities, and creative applications infused into many of our training materials and almost all of our practical assignments. If you’re looking to break into the medical writing field as a freelancer, with genuine future-proofing in mind, I’d be happy to consider your application for The ‘Thriving & Free’ Medical Writer Program™.
