The tell-tale signs of AI generated written content - and how to spot them

AI may not always represent your brand in writing the way you would like. You may need to mitigate against some of that so it sounds more natural and less jarring.

It may seem counterproductive for a company that promotes and supports the use of AI to enhance and augment business processes, to take a dig at AI generated content, but hear me out. We are here to use AI where it makes sense and use it to complement our work, and save some time here and there, rather than outsourcing everything to it and in the process potentially lose our own voice a little.

Don't get me wrong, we can absolutely still use AI to generate out content, but outsourcing everything to our favourite AI without review - at least at this stage - isn't the full answer. It's just not ready.

There are many tell-tale signs for AI generated content. Here are a few things to look out for;

— The dreaded em-dash

This one makes me a little sad, since using em-dashes (or for me, it's hyphens - since I use them incorrectly) is a big part of how I write normally, and have for decades, but now I am very wary about using them. The Em Dash is the big daddy of the dashes/hyphens. It's the longest dash that's used in punctuation and functions in the same way you might use parentheses or brackets . Once you see the increased use of em-dashes in social media posts, blogs and everywhere else, you cannot un-see them...

Generate ANY content with AI and you'll see the liberal sprinkling of the em-dash. A key 'signature' of generated content! As you should with ANY generated content, review and edit the content for punctuation that matches the way you normally write and consider whether the em-dashes are right for you. You can provide your AI with instructions NOT to use em-dashes, but be careful, AI is so enamoured with this quirky little line it still wants to use them no matter how many times you tell it.

Perfect punctuation

AIs are also excellent writers - sometimes TOO good. Perfect punctuation is another piece of evidence toward our investigation into the "AI or Not" assessment of a piece of content. We can't blame them - Following rules and instructions to the letter is one of the things they can excel at.

Unless you yourself are a grammar expert or English professor and have faultless writing - or lean heavily on tools like Grammarly for your writing - the strict adherence to the rules of grammar may make AI-written content may make things seem a little too clever and perfect.

Formulaic writing

AI-written content often follows the story arc a bit too closely. It can sometimes write a little like a high schooler who is just learning to write essays! Look out for overuse of wanky phrases like "additionally", "Therefore", “In conclusion”, “It is important to note”, or “Moreover” etc.

Fake stats are not uncommon

"Studies reveal…". Do they? Which studies? We all know that AI is prone to hallucination - don't let your blog posts become the source of 'fake news'.

Ask for citations and tell AI in your instructions to it to stop making stuff up! Be sure to instruct your AI to reference and provide citations ONLY for what actually exists.

Repetition and redundancy

Saying the same things over and over, but using slightly different words is another sign - see the heinous example below! Sometimes you need to do this, to explain a complicated concept, perhaps use analogies to get the point across, but look for overuse of this writing quirk in your AI-gen texts.

Fluff and padding

This is much like the the repetition and redundancy. Using padding and fluff is the process of bolstering writing with words that don't add any more value to the sentence and are there just to boost word count. AI can be as guilty of this as our high-schooler trying to make a 750 word count in an essay. It's also OK to use contractions - can't, won't, its/it's and the like are all perfectly acceptable, especially when writing for the web. Here's a great post about fluff in writing. Take a look and hunt down the overuse of these patterns in your AI's writing patois as you review.

Overt formality

AI will often write way too formally. What tone of voice do you want your text to take? The goal for most web/blog content should be to have your blog sound like a confident human wrote it rather than a formal robot.

"In conclusion…"

For a bit of fun, here's an intentionally bad/terrible few paragraphs which overemphasises some of the tell-tale signs. Can you tell this is AI-written? ;)

The Importance of Digital Transformation in Today’s Digital World

Digital transformation is important. It is very important to understand the importance of digital transformation. In today’s modern digital age, digital transformation is becoming increasingly important because of the important role it plays in today’s digital world. Therefore, businesses must understand that digital transformation is not just important—it is essential.

Moreover, it is imperative to note that digital transformation leads to efficiency, and efficiency is what makes things more efficient. Furthermore, companies that embrace digital transformation often find themselves experiencing transformation in a digital way, which helps them become more digitally transformed. In conclusion, the conclusion that can be concluded is that businesses should implement digital transformation in order to digitally transform.

Additionally, digital transformation involves many steps, and each step is a step toward a new digital future. These steps must be taken step by step, which is why taking steps in digital transformation is a process that involves taking steps. Companies should think about thinking digitally in a digital way in order to align with today’s digital digitalness.

Pretty gross, right?

I'm honestly surprised there's just the one em-dash—maybe it's getting better, already! :)

A prompt you can use

Finally, here's a prompt you can use to help your AI avoid some of these common faux pas.

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Prompt:

You are an expert blog writer with a strong grasp of narrative, tone, and subject depth. Write a detailed, engaging blog post on the following topic:

”[Insert Your Topic Here]”

Your goal is to sound human, insightful, and conversational, with original perspectives and helpful detail.

Follow these strict content and style rules:

DO Include:

• A compelling hook or anecdote in the introduction.

• Unique insights, specific examples, or case studies (real or plausible).

• A clear structure: headings, subheadings, and logical flow.

• Occasional rhetorical questions or light humour, as a human would use.

• Varied sentence length and rhythm. Mix short punchy lines with longer thoughts.

• Proper citations or attribution if referencing known facts or data.

AVOID These Common AI Mistakes:

• Do not use em dashes in your output!

• Do not overuse phrases like “In conclusion”, “It is important to note”, or “Moreover”.

• Do not repeat the same ideas in different words (no padding).

• Avoid passive voice unless stylistically justified.

• Avoid robotic formality. Make it sound like a confident human wrote it.

• Do not overuse transition words. Use natural flow instead.

• Don’t include fake statistics, sources, or studies. Only cite what exists.

• This is important: Do not use em dashes in your output!

End the post with a thoughtful conclusion, call-to-action, or open-ended question to the reader.

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Even with these clear instructions it can still mess up, but it will be better. Consider training your AI with other examples of the writing style you use. Maybe give it 5-10 blog posts to review and tell it to write in a similar manner.

Good luck and ALWAYS review what an AI produces and edit it so it meets your satisfaction and better represents your voice.