I've been recently working on the process to improve this at my day job. A coworker made a point to make very clear distinction between change logs and release notes, and its made a huge difference in how I approach and think about the problem.

A changelog is a raw, engineering driven manifest of everything that has changed. This log sometimes needs more context. Okay the wizbang had a hoozit added, what the hell does this mean and why do I care? Or it needs less and a lot of the engineer rambling needs to be stripped out.

The changelog is an input to a release notes process. This is where refine the wording and fix it up for end user consumption. Having a clear changelog pointing back to individual PRs and engineers lets us go back and talk to folks and clean things up and have final wording checked. There is no amount of automation that can every replace this process. It's part of the finishing touches and craftsmanship our customers expect.

Nothing I'm saying here is any different than what you are saying. My changelogs are the same as your drafts. I just found having those clear definitions and separate terms made it easier to sell the process and have people understand the big picture.