You know the feeling.
You ask AI to write something. It produces text that’s technically correct but feels… off. Something about it screams “a robot wrote this” and you can’t quite pinpoint why.
I used to think this was just how AI writes. A fundamental limitation. Learn to live with it.
Turns out, I was wrong.
AI writing sounds robotic because of specific, fixable patterns. Once you know what they are, you can prompt your way around them—or edit them out in seconds.
Here are the five tells, and exactly how to fix each one.
Tell #1: The Same Fancy Words Over and Over
Research shows AI models use certain words at wildly unnatural rates.
Words like “delve,” “tapestry,” “testament,” “multifaceted,” and “myriad” appear up to 150 times more often in AI writing than in human text. AI loves “Furthermore,” “Moreover,” and “Additionally” as transitions.
It’s trying to sound sophisticated. Instead, it sounds like a thesaurus threw up.
The fix:
Add this to your prompt:
Write in plain, conversational English. Avoid fancy words like
"delve," "myriad," "testament," and "multifaceted." Use simple
words a 10th grader would use.
Or even simpler:
Write like you're explaining this to a friend. No fancy vocabulary.
Tell #2: No Contractions
Notice how AI often writes “do not” instead of “don’t”? “It is” instead of “it’s”? “You are” instead of “you’re”?
This happens because AI is trained on lots of formal text—academic papers, official documents, textbooks. That training bleeds through.
The result? Writing that sounds stiff and distant. Like a legal document pretending to be casual.
The fix:
Simply tell it:
Use contractions naturally (don't, it's, you're, we'll).
Write how people actually talk.
This one change makes an immediate difference.
Tell #3: The Question-Answer Pattern
AI loves this structure:
“But what does this mean for you? It means X.” “So how can you apply this? Here’s how…” “Why does this matter? Because…”
Once in a while, it’s effective. But AI does this constantly, turning every paragraph into a fake dialogue. It starts to feel like you’re being interrogated.
The fix:
Don't use rhetorical questions followed by immediate answers.
Make statements directly. If you want to engage the reader,
use other techniques like stories, examples, or direct address.
Better yet, show it what you want:
Bad: "So what's the solution? The solution is to..."
Good: "The solution is simple: [direct statement]"
Write in the "good" style.
Tell #4: Robotic Rhythm
Read AI output out loud and you’ll notice something strange: every sentence has a similar rhythm. Similar length. Similar structure.
Short sentence. Medium sentence. Another medium sentence. Short again.
It’s hypnotic in a bad way. There’s no variation, no surprise, no personality. It reads like a metronome.
The fix:
Vary your sentence length dramatically. Some very short.
Others longer, with multiple clauses and a more complex structure
that takes time to unfold. Mix it up unpredictably.
You can also ask for specific stylistic variation:
Write with rhythm variety. Include some one-word sentences.
Some fragments. And some longer, meandering sentences that
take their time getting to the point.
Tell #5: Vague Openings and Filler Phrases
AI loves to warm up. “In today’s fast-paced world…” “It’s no secret that…” “When it comes to…” “At the end of the day…”
These phrases add zero value. They’re the written equivalent of clearing your throat. And they’re everywhere in AI output.
The fix:
Start with your actual point. No throat-clearing phrases like
"In today's world" or "It's no secret that." First sentence
should contain real information.
Or be blunt:
Delete all filler. Every sentence must contain information
or insight. Nothing generic.
The Master Prompt: Combining All Fixes
Here’s a prompt you can use (or adapt) to get more human-sounding output from the start:
Write in a natural, human voice. Follow these rules:
1. Use simple words. Avoid "delve," "myriad," "testament,"
"multifaceted," and similar fancy vocabulary.
2. Use contractions naturally (don't, it's, you're, we've).
3. No rhetorical question-answer patterns.
4. Vary sentence length dramatically. Some short. Some long.
5. No filler phrases. Start with your actual point.
6. Write like you're explaining to a smart friend—informed
but conversational.
Save this somewhere. Paste it at the start of prompts when you need writing that sounds real.
The Nuclear Option: Train It On Your Voice
For the most natural results, show AI what you want.
Paste a sample of your own writing (a few paragraphs is enough) and ask:
Here's an example of my writing style:
[paste your sample]
Analyze the style: sentence length, word choice, rhythm,
tone. Then write [your request] in that same style.
AI is remarkably good at mimicking patterns when you give it something to work from. Your own writing is the best training data for getting output that sounds like you.
The Editing Checklist
Sometimes it’s faster to let AI write something robotic and then fix it yourself. Here’s what to look for:
Find and replace:
- “Furthermore,” → “And”
- “Moreover,” → (delete or rewrite)
- “Additionally,” → “Also,” or (delete)
- “It is important to note that” → (delete)
- “In order to” → “To”
Quick passes:
- Read first sentence of each paragraph. Does it start with real content or throat-clearing? Fix the throat-clearing.
- Read out loud. Where does it sound robotic? Those are your edit points.
- Check for contractions. Add them where natural.
- Look for three sentences in a row with similar length. Vary them.
This takes about two minutes and transforms AI output from obviously fake to publishable.
Why This Happens
AI doesn’t actually think it’s writing badly.
It predicts the most likely next word based on patterns in its training data. When millions of articles use “Furthermore” as a transition, AI predicts “Furthermore” is safe.
But “safe” isn’t the same as “good.” And “common in training data” isn’t the same as “how actual humans write casually.”
When you give AI explicit instructions to write differently, you’re overriding those default predictions. You’re saying, “I know ‘delve’ is common, but I don’t want it.”
The AI can follow these instructions. It just needs you to give them.
The Bottom Line
AI writing sounds robotic because of specific, predictable patterns—not because AI fundamentally can’t write well.
Fix the patterns, fix the problem.
Start with the master prompt above. Edit outputs using the checklist. And for your most important writing, train AI on your own voice.
The goal isn’t to hide that you used AI. It’s to make sure the final product sounds like something a human would actually say.
Because life’s too short to read another paragraph that starts with “In today’s fast-paced world…”