Half the internet is full of AI-generated writing now. And I don’t actually think that’s the problem. The real problem is that everything is starting to sound the same.
You can feel it when you read something. The flow is familiar. The tone is familiar. Even the punctuation feels familiar. It’s clean and readable, but empty. Like you’ve already read this exact paragraph ten times this week.
AI writing has tells now.
Let’s get into it.
The Tells Are Getting Easier To Spot.
It used to be the em dash. Now it’s other things. Perfect balance. Overly neat explanations. Writing that wraps itself up nicely every single time.
That’s because AI is designed to be average. Safe. Predictable. And when everyone uses the same tools the same way, average becomes obvious fast.
Most people drop their writing into AI and ask it to make things better. What comes back is technically fine, but flat.
Humans don’t write like that. We understand emotion, context, and timing. We trail off when the thought is done, not when the paragraph is supposed to end. AI doesn’t do that on its own. It’s coded.
The mistake is using AI as a brain replacement instead of a tool. You can’t throw in a vague idea and expect something that sounds human to come out.
What helped was flipping how I use AI. I don’t ask it to think for me. I ask it to edit what I already thought. That’s where these prompts come in. They don’t make AI human. They just stop it from sounding like AI.
Here they are.
The Prompts I Use to Break AI Writing Patterns
Anti-Closure Human Rewrite
Rewrite this text in simple, everyday human language.
Remove corporate tone, AI phrasing, and polished clarity.
Do not end with a summary, conclusion, aphorism, slogan, or restated thesis.
Avoid symmetry, parallel sentence structures, and dramatic “mic-drop” endings.
The piece should feel like a real person thinking out loud, not wrapping things up.
The ending must open tension, introduce an unresolved implication, or stop on a concrete observation without explaining it.
Leave the thought slightly unfinished on purpose.
Text: [paste text]
Anti-Fragment Human Rewrite
Rewrite this text in simple, everyday human language.
Remove corporate tone, AI phrasing, and rhetorical polish.
Avoid stacked short sentences, sentence fragments, and rhythmic emphasis.
Prefer continuous thought over punch.
Use clauses, transitions, and natural flow instead of isolated lines.
Do not highlight ideas through sentence length or dramatic pacing.
The writing should feel like someone explaining a thought in one breath, not delivering points.
Text: [paste text]
No-Implied-Intent Rewrite
Rewrite this text in simple, everyday human language.
Remove corporate tone, AI phrasing, and rhetorical polish.
Do not use adverbs that imply intent, subtlety, or hidden motion (including but not limited to: quietly, subtly, deliberately, increasingly, intentionally, notably, strategically).
Replace them with concrete actions, decisions, or observable behavior, or remove them entirely.
If an action cannot be described concretely, do not imply it.
Text: [paste text]
Universal Human Rewrite Prompt
Act as a human writing editor, not an AI.
Rewrite the text below so it sounds like it was written by a real person with experience, thinking out loud, not performing.
Rules to follow:
Remove corporate tone, AI phrasing, polished clarity, and marketing language.
Break common AI writing patterns. No generic transitions, no symmetry, no perfect balance.
Use simple, everyday language. Conversational, confident, and natural.
Maintain one consistent human voice, with slight, natural tone shifts.
Avoid stacked short sentences, fragments, and rhythmic punchiness. Prefer continuous thought and natural flow.
Do not over-explain or narrate intent. Avoid adverbs that imply strategy or subtlety. Describe only concrete actions or observable ideas, or remove them.
Do not wrap things up neatly. No summaries, slogans, mic-drops, or restated theses.
Let the ending feel unfinished on purpose. Stop on an observation, implication, or open tension without explaining it.
The result should feel honest, slightly imperfect, and human. Like someone explaining something in one breath, not delivering points.
Text to rewrite:
[paste text here]
Human Rewrite Prompt (Provocative Edition)
Act as a human writing editor, not an AI. Rewrite the text below so it sounds like it was written by a real person with experience who has already seen this play out and is a little tired of hearing the same wrong takes.
Remove corporate tone, AI phrasing, polished clarity, and marketing language.
Break common AI writing patterns. No generic transitions, no symmetry, no perfect balance.
Use simple, everyday language. Conversational, confident, and natural, but grounded in a clear point of view that challenges a common assumption or comfortable belief.
Maintain one consistent human voice, with slight, natural tone shifts. Let some impatience or friction show where it naturally would if this were explained in person.
Avoid stacked short sentences, fragments, and rhythmic punchiness. Prefer continuous thought and natural flow.
Do not over-explain or narrate intent. Avoid adverbs that imply strategy or subtlety. Describe only concrete actions, observed behavior, or consequences.
Do not wrap things up neatly. No summaries, slogans, mic-drops, or restated theses.
End on an implication, tension, or uncomfortable realization that you don’t resolve.
The result should feel honest, slightly imperfect, and human, like someone explaining something in one breath after watching people get this wrong for a while.
Text to rewrite:
[paste text here]
Human Rewrite Prompt (Getting rid of BS)
Act as a human writing editor, not an AI. Rewrite the text below so it sounds like it was written by a real person with experience who has already seen this play out and is a little tired of hearing the same wrong takes.
Remove corporate tone, AI phrasing, polished clarity, and marketing language.
Break common AI writing patterns. No generic transitions. No symmetry. No perfect balance.
Use simple, everyday language. Conversational, confident, and natural, but grounded in a clear point of view that challenges a common assumption or comfortable belief.
Maintain one consistent human voice, with slight, natural tone shifts. Let some impatience or friction show where it naturally would if this were explained in person.
Avoid stacked short sentences, fragments, and rhythmic punchiness. Prefer continuous thought and natural flow.
Do not over-explain or narrate intent. Avoid adverbs that imply strategy or subtlety. Describe only concrete actions, observed behavior, or consequences.
Do not use contrastive correction structures such as “not X, but Y,” “it’s not about A, it’s about B,” or any similar binary framing. Let the point emerge without correcting the reader directly.
Do not use the words “quietly” or “shift,” or any close variants of them.
Do not wrap things up neatly. No summaries, slogans, mic-drops, or restated theses.
End on an implication, tension, or uncomfortable realization that you don’t resolve.
The result should feel honest, slightly imperfect, and human, like someone explaining something in one breath after watching people get this wrong for a while.
Text to rewrite:
[paste text here]
Below is a quick visual summary of the shorter prompts. The full versions are written out above.
That’s it for today. Connect with me on Linkedin if you actually want to understand what an Autonomous Organization looks like in the real world.
