How to humanize AI content: 4 writing tips

1. Avoid following formulaic sentence structure

AI tends to rely on formulaic sentence structures, often producing complex sentences. A complex sentence consists of one independent and at least one dependent clause. This isn’t to say avoid complex sentences at all costs (because that would be very difficult) but to veer away from the mechanical rhythm they can create.

For example, instead of writing, “Because it was pouring, the event was postponed,” try, “The event was postponed because it was pouring.” It’s concise and conveys the same meaning as the original sentence more naturally.

And who’s to say you have to follow basic grammatical rules in your writing? If you’re writing creatively, venture outside of English writing norms and experiment with run-on sentences, fragments, deliberate repetition, and playing with punctuation like dashes and semicolons.

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2. Watch out for words and phrases overused by AI

Have you noticed that AI tends to prefer certain words? Whether it’s a beautiful “tapestry” metaphor or the word “robust,” catching these words and phrases requires a lot of exposure to AI content and a keen eye for repetition. A lot of times, these words aren’t commonly used in spoken human language. For example, AI enjoys using formal words like “utilize.” Instead, you can simply say “use.” If you see a word like “ensure” or “elevate,” try asking AI for alternative words or refer to a thesaurus of your choice to expand your vocabulary to humanize AI content.

3. Invite your readers in

AI-generated content can come across as impersonal and cold to audiences. Unless you’re writing a research paper or something that requires a formal, objective tone, use secondary pronouns like you/us/we/ours to acknowledge the reader and engage them more. Also, use active voice instead of passive voice to humanize AI writing and pose rhetorical questions wherever possible for a more interactive experience.

4. Identify and fix vacuous truths

AI likes to make statements without backing them up. These vacuous truths come across as authoritative but lack substance. For example, in an argument, AI may say, “It can be difficult to…” or “It is crucial to understand how AI works…” None of these answer the “so what?”

Create a convincing argument by pausing to think critically about vacuous truths and turning them into true claims. For example, if you’re trying to argue, “It is important that you learn how to rewrite AI-generated text,” follow up with, “because content that feels AI-generated doesn’t resonate as well with audiences.”

Pro AI tip: Ask AI to humanize content for you

Why not let AI help humanize AI writing itself? Either in your initial AI prompt or in your AI chat, point out the ways you want your AI tool to humanize content. Try including this direction in your prompt: “Before you start this task, think about the best way to humanize AI content. Make your writing sound as natural as possible by being less formal, avoiding vacuous statements, writing to the reader directly, and using varied sentence structure.” This can be a great starting point when figuring out how to efficiently humanize AI text.

Need a helping hand with your next writing project? Learn more about the ways AI can help strengthen your skills as a writer.