How to remove AI writing tells without losing your voice

A practical editing checklist for removing AI writing tells, generic wording, formulaic sentences, vague evidence, and assistant chatter.

AI writing tells are repeated choices that make a draft feel generic, mechanical, or detached from its subject. They are not proof that AI wrote the text. They are editing signals: vague claims, polished filler, uniform sentence shapes, and conclusions that sound important without saying anything testable.

1. Remove assistant chatter and empty framing

Delete phrases such as “Great question,” “I hope this helps,” and “It is important to note that.” A document should begin with its point, not with language left over from a chat interface.

2. Replace generic AI vocabulary

Words such as robust, pivotal, leverage, and delve are not always wrong. The problem is that they often replace a concrete action. Instead of “leverage a robust platform,” write what the team did and what changed: “The support team used the dashboard to cut response time by 18%.”

3. Break formulaic sentence patterns

Watch for repeated “not only … but also,” identical paragraph openings, and a sequence of “first, furthermore, finally.” Keep transitions only when they explain a real relationship between ideas.

4. Name the evidence

Replace “experts believe” and “studies show” with a named source, date, and finding. If no source is available, rewrite the sentence as your own clearly bounded observation.

5. End with a result or next step

Conclusions such as “the future looks bright” add confidence without information. Finish with the decision, result, risk, or action the reader needs.

Quick editing checklist

• Can every broad adjective be tied to a fact?
• Does each transition express a real connection?
• Are sources identifiable and verifiable?
• Do sentence lengths follow the meaning rather than a template?
• Does the ending give the reader something concrete?