Thoughts on using AI to write funding applications

A little while ago a client asked me to trial using ChatGPT to produce a grant request and then let them know whether I thought it was good enough to submit. My honest opinion was that it gave a useful starting point and I would be happy to use the structure of the application but it lacked the personal detail and it didn’t tell a story. I like my grant applications to bring a project to life by drawing on real life experiences. AI will only ever be capable of regurgitating information that already exists online.

I’m not sold on it and I will keep using my own, very much not artificial, intelligence to write applications. The environmental impact worries me too.

However, I can see the benefit for people and organisations who are new to bid writing but I would still advise to proceed with caution. Today I came across this advice from the National Lottery Heritage Fund which I think could apply to a lot of funders – I think it is well worth a read.