Lily Burton Is Pivoting from PhD to Science Journalism. Her Portfolio Took an Hour to Build — and Already Landed Her Work.

By WordPress.com Staff on February 18, 2026

Lily Burton spent years in the lab. PhD in biochemistry and molecular biophysics at the University of Chicago. Deep research. Big questions.

But something was missing.

"I really enjoyed thinking about very deep questions," she says. "But I kind of missed the human element. I would get frustrated — why should a normal, everyday person care about this?"

That question led her toward science writing. And eventually, to a portfolio she built in an hour using our AI website builder.

From lab to byline

To pursue her science writing dream, Lily built up slowly. Volunteer projects. Small bylines. Then, in late 2023, she applied to the AAAS Mass Media Fellowship — mostly as practice.

She got in.

Ten weeks at a public radio station in North Carolina, reporting on science. That was the moment it became real.

"This might actually be something I could do."

The portfolio problem

But to get paid work, she needed a portfolio. A place to show her clips. Proof she could do the job.

She kept putting it off.

I had been dreading making the website — not because it would be so hard, but I just didn't know exactly how to do it.

Then a deadline hit. An internship application. Four hours to finish everything — resume, cover letter, portfolio.

She opened WordPress.com, found the AI website builder, and started typing. About an hour later, her online portfolio was live.

It lowered the barrier for me to get started and get everything together.

Screenshot of the WordPress Portfolio Website About Me Section.

What Lily's new website delivered

She didn't get that first job. But the website stuck around.

A few weeks later, another interview. They wanted writing samples. She sent the website immediately.

As a result, Lily got:

Contract work from that company
A separate internship
A portfolio ready to send whenever opportunities come up

They asked for writing samples. I sent them my website. I got the contract.

Screenshot of the WordPress Website Portfolio Section.

Your story deserves a home, too

Lily had been putting off her portfolio for too long. A deadline forced her hand — and the AI website builder got her there in an hour.

WordPress.com's managed hosting also means she's not dealing with updates or maintenance. She focuses on her career. The platform handles the rest.

Her story started in the lab. But her website is where the next chapter begins.

Yours can too.

You bring the idea — AI makes it real

Use our AI website builder for free today.

Try it now

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Introducing the WordPress AI Assistant — Now Built Into WordPress.com

By Ronnie Burt on February 17, 2026

The WordPress AI Assistant is now available on WordPress.com.

If you've used our AI website builder, you already know how easy it is to create a full site by having a conversation. Now, that same intelligence stays with you inside the editor and Media Library.

Unlike standalone AI tools, the WordPress AI Assistant works inside your site. It understands your content and layout and can take action where you're already building — no copy-pasting, no prompt engineering, and no code to figure out what to do with.

Sites on WordPress.com's Business or Commerce plans can now opt into the WordPress AI Assistant at no extra cost.

Build, write, design, and manage without breaking your flow

The new AI assistant will show up in a few places within your WordPress experience once enabled on each of your sites:

The Editor

The WordPress AI Assistant open on the right side of a page editor

Get help with site-wide structure and design decisions, as well as content editing and refinement without leaving the editor. You can adjust layouts, styles, and patterns on your posts and pages just by talking — and see changes take shape as you work.

You can ask it to:

"Make this section feel more modern and spacious."
"Change my site colors to be more bright and bold."
"Give me more font options that feel clean and professional."
"Add a testimonials section below this section."
"Add a Contact page."
"Rewrite this to sound more confident."
"Translate this section into Spanish."
"Give me three title options for this page."
"Generate an image of a croissant for this blog post."

Enable the AI assistant

Media Library

An AI-generated image of a Parisian street cafe in WordPress.com's image generation and editing tool

Create and edit images directly in your Media Library. The AI assistant helps you generate new visuals or make targeted edits to existing images, so your media stays consistent with your site's look and brand. You can specify aspect ratios and image styles to have even more control over the final look.

This feature uses the latest Nano Banana models, bringing you added value without needing other subscriptions.

In your Media Library, click the "Generate Image" button. You can ask the assistant things like:

"Generate an image of a calico cat reading a book."
"Update this image to be black and white."
"Replace this stack of pancakes with a stack of waffles."

Generate and edit images with AI

Block notes

The block notes feature introduced in WordPress 6.9 lets you collaborate with teammates directly in the editor. The WordPress AI Assistant extends that same workflow with AI: ask questions in block notes and get answers with your content as context, including relevant links and info from external sources:

"@ai Please fact-check this block."
"@ai Give me headline ideas for this article"
"@ai Suggest examples to strengthen this paragraph"

Use AI in block notes

The WordPress AI Assistant works right inside WordPress, so you get help exactly where you're building, writing, and editing.

How to enable the WordPress AI Assistant

You can opt-in in just a few clicks:

Log in to your WordPress.com account and go to your Sites list.
Click your site name, and then click Settings.
Scroll down and click the "AI tools" setting.
Click the toggle to enable the setting.

The screen for enabling the AI assistant for a site on WordPress.com called The Best Croissants in France

Alternatively, if you purchase a site built with our AI website builder, the AI assistant will be enabled automatically, regardless of which plan you choose.

Note that the AI assistant works best with block themes. If you're using a classic theme, the AI assistant won't appear in the editor. However, you can still generate and edit AI images in the Media Library.

Get started today

Most tools stop after generating a site. Others give you a single chat box isolated from your workflow or one-off code you need to know what to do with.

The WordPress AI Assistant works inside your actual site, helping adjust blocks, shape layouts, write content, and guide decisions.

This is WordPress, now with intelligence built in — ready to help you create, design, and grow faster than ever. And just one of the many ways WordPress.com users will be empowered by AI this year.

Enable the WordPress AI Assistant

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60 29th St. #343, San Francisco, CA 94110

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