How to stop your AI writing sounding like AI
People can tell. Not because they are clever, but because AI writing has a small set of habits it repeats constantly. Once you can name them, you can instruct them away, and you only have to do it once.
The problem with obviously-AI writing is not that you used AI. Almost everyone does now. The problem is that it reads as effort you did not make, which quietly undermines the thing you were trying to say.
The tells
Here is what gives it away, roughly in order of how often I see it:
- Em dashes everywhere. The long dash. Most people do not use them. AI uses them constantly.
- The "not just X, but Y" construction. Once you notice it you will see it in every AI-written LinkedIn post ever published.
- Rule-of-three lists. Everything comes in threes, balanced and rhythmic, whether or not there are three things.
- Bold text scattered through a social post, where the platform does not even render it.
- A specific vocabulary. Delve, unlock, elevate, leverage, seamless, robust, landscape, journey, tapestry, game-changer, testament to.
- Openings that clear their throat. "In today's fast-paced world." "Let's dive in."
- Closings that summarise a thing you just read. "In conclusion." "At the end of the day."
- Hedging. Everything is "can help," "may assist," "could potentially."
- Relentless positivity, with no opinion, no tension, and nothing at stake.
- Emoji as bullet points. The rocket. The sparkles. The check mark.
The prompt
Save this once and stop retyping it. It is written to be pasted at the end of any writing request, or saved into your tool's settings so it applies automatically.
Write this in my voice, following these rules. Do: - Use plain words. If a shorter word works, use it. - Vary your sentence lengths. Some short. Some longer, with a clause that earns its place. - Say things directly. Take a position. - Use specific detail instead of general claims. Name the thing, the number, the day. - Address the reader as "you". - Leave one idea slightly unresolved rather than tying everything up. Do not: - Use em dashes. Use a comma, a full stop, or a new sentence. - Use the construction "not just X, but Y" or any variation. - Use these words: delve, unlock, elevate, leverage, seamless, robust, landscape, journey, tapestry, realm, game-changer, testament, harness, navigate, empower, transform, revolutionise, cutting-edge, dive in, in today's world, at the end of the day, in conclusion. - Open by setting the scene or explaining why the topic matters. - Close by summarising what you just said. - Use bold, emoji, or hashtags unless I ask. - Hedge with "can", "may", "could potentially". Say what is true. - Put things in threes out of habit. Then check your draft against these rules and fix anything that slipped through before you show me.
Make it permanent
In ChatGPT
Open your profile menu, go to personalisation, and paste a trimmed version into the box asking what traits ChatGPT should have. There is a character limit, so cut the word list down to your ten worst offenders. It then applies to every new conversation without you doing anything.
In Claude
Two options, and the second is better. You can paste it into your profile preferences so it applies everywhere. Or, if you write regularly in one particular voice, set it up as a custom style, which lets you switch it on and off per conversation. If you are working on one ongoing thing, a Project with these instructions attached is better still, because you can add your past writing alongside it.
The step most people skip
Rules stop it sounding like AI. They do not make it sound like you. For that, feed it your own writing.
Find three or four things you have written that genuinely sound like you: a good email, a caption you were happy with, a message to a client. Paste them in and say: "Here are four things I wrote. Describe my writing voice in detail, then keep that description and write everything in it from now on."
The description it gives back is often uncomfortably accurate, and it is far more useful than any rule list, because it is yours.
The last five percent is you. No prompt gets it all the way there. Read the draft out loud before it goes anywhere. Anywhere you stumble is a sentence you would not have written. Change that one line and the whole thing lands differently.
Credit where it is due
The idea of a saved anti-AI writing instruction is not mine. I first came across it in Sabrina Ramonov's write-up on humanising AI writing, which is worth reading, and her version is more tuned to direct-response marketing copy. The prompt above is my own, written for the way small business owners and non-profit teams in Australia actually write. If you write sales copy, go and read hers as well.