Fixing AI Writing Patterns: Rules to Sound More Human

As AI tools reshape human writing habits, identifying and eliminating the "AI tone" in texts has become a focal point for creators. Drawing on practical experience, several authors have systematically broken down the typical routines of AI-generated text, pointing out that relying on polishing tools is not a long-term solution; the real fix is to fundamentally change writing habits.

Common "AI Tone" Characteristics

@LearnWithBishal and @bigaiguy summarized several common AI writing traces. In terms of vocabulary, AI tends to favor words like "delve," "certainly," and "leverage." Regarding sentence structures, it frequently overuses em-dashes for rhythmic pauses, prefers three-part short sentences like "Fast. Cheap. Simple.," and relies on binary opposition templates like "It's not X, but Y." Additionally, AI text often opens with pseudo-insights like "what most people don't notice" and forcefully pivots to empty, profound summaries at the end.

Questioning "Humanizer" Tools

Addressing the so-called "humanizer" tools on the market, @bigaiguy raised doubts. He argued that feeding a ChatGPT draft into these tools essentially just spends money to reshuffle the same set of AI traces. Because paragraphs written by AI reveal fixed patterns, the truly effective approach is not simple polishing, but learning to recognize and break these patterns fundamentally.

Practical Advice for De-AI-ing

To make writing sound more human, @bigaiguy offered specific writing rules: First, every paragraph should include specific numbers, names, or dates. Second, strongly vary sentence length, following short sentences with a longer one that carries the core viewpoint. Finally, dare to make clear judgments that AI would not easily make on its own. When editing, he suggests directly deleting the pseudo-profound kicker at the end to stop at the concrete facts, and removing pseudo-insight openings to get straight to the point.

2026-07-22 ~ 2026-07-23 · 7 related posts

Primary sources

AI writing tells are easy to spot: delve, certainly, and too much structure — LearnWithBishal · 2026-07-22 22:54 (UTC+08:00)
Humanizer tools mostly reshuffle the same AI-writing tells, author says — bigaiguy · 2026-07-23 17:18 (UTC+08:00)
Three rules for writing that doesn’t read like AI copy — bigaiguy · 2026-07-23 17:18 (UTC+08:00)

[source] AI writing tells are easy to spot: delve, certainly, and too much structure — LearnWithBishal · 2026-07-22
[source] Humanizer tools mostly reshuffle the same AI-writing tells, author says — bigaiguy · 2026-07-23
AI copy often falls into three-part fragments and binary contrasts — bigaiguy · 2026-07-23
Another AI-writing rule: cut faux-insight openings and just state the claim — bigaiguy · 2026-07-23
A writing checklist for stripping out AI’s em dashes, clichés, and buzzwords — bigaiguy · 2026-07-23
Writer says AI copy sounds better when you cut the fake-profound final line — bigaiguy · 2026-07-23
[source] Three rules for writing that doesn’t read like AI copy — bigaiguy · 2026-07-23