How to Add Human Tone Back Into AI‑Generated Text

AI has a unique cadence that anyone who has used it for a couple of months can recognize. It is polished and rhythmic, with recurring habits that appear in any text regardless of the topic. So what gives away AI-generated text? Ask any model and it will point to the em dash (—), which AI loves, and it even knows it. Then comes the rule of three, which provides exactly three concatenated examples in any given list, such as “fast, reliable, and scalable.” There is also the signature “it’s not just X, it’s Y” construction, which shows you both sides of a coin when only one would be enough. A handful of other tics appear less often, but they are no less annoying.

How to Make AI-Assisted Writing Sound Like a Human

What the model will not tell you is that human writing is imperfect, and that imperfection is what readers trust. A few deliberate edits can bring your voice back into drafts produced by AI.

• Vary your sentence lengths. AI likes even rhythm, while human writing mixes short sentences with long ones. So in the world shaped by AI, a run-on sentence is a sign of human life. Not that I’m advocating for bad grammar, but adding a well-structured run-on sentence may provide a unique style to your writing that is not present in AI-generated text.
• Let your favorite words repeat. Every person has verbal habits that change from one speaker to the next. I recently listened to a 15-minute interview and counted more than 20 uses of the word “speed.” AI would never allow that, since it swaps in synonyms to avoid repetition. If a word is part of how you talk, put it back, because that repetition is your fingerprint.
• Add transitional words. Transitions are the links between sentences and between paragraphs that smoothly connect the previous idea with the next one. AI often skips them in favor of tidy, standalone statements. Words like “still,” “meanwhile,” “that said,” and “therefore” make text sound less machine-generated and more conversational.

Your readers will accept that you use AI, and they will keep reading as long as your writing sounds like you. So treat AI as a fast first drafter and treat yourself as the editor who adds the uneven rhythm and connective tissue that make a message sound like a person wrote it. And one more step before you hit send: Read it in your own words and put back the natural phrasing you use when you speak that AI tends to remove.

Adeline (Addy) Maissonet is a senior advisor on contracting policies and procedures within the Office of the Secretary of War, U.S. Department of War (DoW) and the agency’s representative on the Department’s views on proposed legislation to Congressional members, their staff, and committee staffers. She leads the development and implementation of Department-wide procurement policies for commodities and services, within her portfolio. Prior to her current role, Addy served as a Division Chief and Contracting Officer with unlimited warrant authority for the U.S. Army Mission and Installation Contracting Command (MICC) – Fort Eustis, Virginia. Prior to joining the MICC, Addy served as a Branch Head for the Mid-Atlantic Regional Maintenance Center (MARMC), Norfolk, Virginia, with unlimited warrant authority. She also held other procurement positions with the U.S. Navy. Addy holds an MBA in Management and Contracting Level III Certification under the Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act. She is a graduate from Cornell University’s Executive Leadership Certificate Program and Harvard University’s Business Analytics Certificate Program. In her free time, Addy enjoys hiking and overlanding with her family and friends.

Note: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Department of War.

Photo Credit: Andrea Piacquadio, Pexels