How to stop AI content sounding like AI: 12 specific edits
The exact patterns that make AI-written content read as obviously AI-generated, and the edits that fix them. Practical, Australian, no theory.
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AI-generated content has predictable tells: em dashes everywhere, certain filler words (“comprehensive”, “leverage”, “delve into”), specific sentence rhythms, generic openings. 12 specific edits applied during your editing pass remove most of the AI-feel. The single fastest fix: remove all em dashes. The best long-term defence: train your AI on your past good writing so future drafts sound less generic by default.
The 12 edits
Apply each one to any AI-written draft. Most take seconds.
1. Remove em dashes
In our view, the single most reliable AI tell in 2026. Few people write mid-sentence asides with em dashes (the long dash); most AI drafts are full of them. Search-and-replace:
- An em dash with spaces around it: replace with a comma and a space (most cases), or a colon or full stop
- An em dash between numbers: replace with an en dash (–), which is the right mark for ranges like 10–20, or restructure
One pass removes a big chunk of the AI-feel.
2. Strip the LLM filler words
Replace these every time:
| AI default | Plain English |
|---|---|
| comprehensive | Full, complete, thorough |
| leverage (verb) | Use |
| delve into | Look at, get into |
| Navigate (the complex) | Work through |
| robust | Solid, strong |
| seamless | Smooth, clean |
| game-changer | Big shift, big change |
| It’s important to note | (delete) |
| in essence | Basically |
| cutting-edge | Modern, recent |
| unlock the power of | Use |
| foster (verb) | Build, develop |
Run a find-and-replace. Five minutes of cleanup.
3. Cut “It’s worth noting that…”
AI loves throat-clearing. Delete every “it’s worth noting”, “it should be noted”, “it’s worth highlighting”. State the thing directly.
Before: “It’s worth noting that AI doesn’t replace human judgement.”
After: “AI doesn’t replace human judgement.”
4. Break the perfect rhythm
AI defaults to sentences of similar length. Real writing varies. Mix short with long.
Before (AI default): “Australian small businesses face many challenges. AI tools can help with various tasks. Understanding which tools fit which use cases is important.”
After: “Australian small businesses face challenges. AI helps with some. Which tools fit which uses, though, depends on the work you do.”
5. Use specific over generic
Specific numbers, specific places, specific examples. AI defaults to generic.
Before: “Many Australian businesses use AI for various tasks.”
After: “Our Brunswick cafe uses Claude for two jobs: replying to Google reviews and writing the Friday specials post.”
Use your own real details and numbers here. Never invent them; a made-up statistic is worse than a generic sentence.
6. Add an opinion
AI defaults to balanced. Real writing takes a side. Pick a position; defend it.
Before: “There are advantages and disadvantages to both Claude and ChatGPT.”
After: “Claude wins on writing quality. ChatGPT wins on image generation and integrations. Plenty of businesses pay for both. Anyone telling you to pick one is selling something.”
7. Drop the “in conclusion” wrap-up
AI loves to summarise at the end. Most articles don’t need it. Cut the last paragraph if it’s a recap.
If you need a closing, make it a specific call to action, not a summary.
8. Kill the bullet-point overload
AI defaults to bullets for everything. Use prose for narrative, bullets for genuinely list-like content.
If you have a paragraph that’s been bulletised, ask if it’d read better as a single tight paragraph. Often yes.
9. Use contractions
AI tends formal. Real writing uses “don’t”, “won’t”, “can’t” naturally. Force contractions where you’d speak them.
Before: “We do not believe AI will replace human writers.”
After: “We don’t think AI replaces human writers.”
10. Cut hedging language
AI hedges. “May”, “might”, “could potentially”, “in some cases”. Real writing commits.
Before: “AI might potentially be useful for some content tasks in certain contexts.”
After: “AI is useful for content. Sometimes. Not always.”
11. Replace the generic opening hook
AI defaults to “In today’s fast-paced digital world…” or similar throat-clearing intros. Open with something specific.
Before: “In the rapidly evolving landscape of artificial intelligence…”
After: “Yesterday I watched Claude rewrite a 200-line script in 90 seconds. It made one mistake. I caught it. We shipped.”
12. Strip the “let me know if you have questions” closer
AI loves closing emails with offers to help further. Real business writing doesn’t always end that way.
Before: “I hope this helps! Let me know if you have any questions or would like me to elaborate on any of the above.”
After: (delete)
Or:
After: “Reply if you want to dig into any of it.”
The single highest-use move: voice training
Once-off, then permanent. The pattern:
- Find 10-15 of your past good writing (emails, blog posts, posts that performed)
- Paste them into a Custom GPT (ChatGPT) or Claude Project
- Add a system instruction: “Write in this voice. Match the rhythm, vocabulary, formality, and humour. Avoid em dashes, ‘comprehensive’, ‘leverage’, ‘delve into’, ‘navigate’, ‘it’s worth noting’.”
Future outputs from that GPT/Project sound much more like you by default, which cuts editing time compared with starting from a generic ChatGPT/Claude draft.
What this guide isn’t trying to do
- Hide AI use from readers. If you used AI, that’s fine; disclose if you want. The goal is quality, not deception.
- Game AI-detection tools. They’re unreliable. Optimise for human readers; the detectors take care of themselves.
- Make every piece sound informal. Match the voice to the audience. Corporate writing for a B2B audience reads differently from social copy for a Melbourne cafe. The principles apply; the surface varies.
The 30-second editing checklist
After AI generates a draft, in this order:
- Remove all em dashes
- Find-and-replace the filler words list above
- Cut any “it’s worth noting” / “in essence” / “in conclusion” wrappers
- Read aloud, rewrite anything that sounds like a press release
- Add one specific number, name, or example from your real work
- Add one opinion that’s clearly yours, not the AI’s default balance
- Read the first paragraph: does it open with something specific?
- Read the last paragraph: does it close with action, not summary?
Eight checks. 5-10 minutes. Difference between obvious AI and “wait, did a human write this?”
What’s next
- How to write better AI prompts for the prompts that produce less generic output in the first place.
- How to use AI for SEO for the broader content workflow.
- AI for ad copywriting for the paid-channel content workflow.
Common questions
Will Google rank AI-detected content lower?
Not in 2026, and not for AI generation per se. Google penalises low-quality, low-value content regardless of source. AI-assisted content that's well-edited, has real first-party insight, and serves the searcher's intent ranks fine.
Does AI-detection software actually work?
Inconsistently. Tools like Originality.ai and GPTZero have meaningful false-positive rates. Human-written content can score 'AI-generated' and vice versa. Don't optimise for detector scores; optimise for human readers.
What's the single highest-use edit?
Cut the em dashes (the long dash, longer than a hyphen or an en dash). In our view they're the most reliable AI tell in 2026. Replace them with commas, colons, or full stops. One search-and-replace removes a big chunk of the AI-feel.
Should I just disclose 'this was AI-assisted'?
Up to you. There's no legal requirement in Australia (yet). For trust-heavy contexts (consultancy reports, technical advice), disclosure builds credibility. For routine marketing copy, disclosure is rare. Don't write disclosure as performative AI-skepticism; write it as a genuine note about your process.
Can I just use Grammarly or similar to fix it?
Partially. Grammarly catches grammar; it doesn't catch the deeper voice issues. The voice-training-once + manual editing pass approach is far more reliable.
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