🕵️‍♀️ How to Spot AI-Generated Text - Even After It's Been "Humanized"
Full disclosure, everything in this post – except this sentence – was written by AI because the whole post demonstrates it’s own subject matter perfectly.
Here’s a quick look at common visual and stylistic giveaways that hint a post has been ghostwritten by our robot cousins (even after a quick humanizer rinse):
So you’re scrolling LinkedIn (or your inbox) and something just feels a little… off. The voice? A bit too earnest. The structure? Suspiciously neat. The vibe? Polished within an inch of its life.
Welcome to the uncanny valley of AI-generated content. Yes—even the kind someone’s tried to disguise with a jaunty emoji and a cheeky one-liner.
Let’s break down the dead giveaways:
🧠1. The Over-Optimized Headline (Now with Bonus Emoji!)
“🚀 10 Ways to Maximize Synergy and Win the Future”
Too shiny. Too generic. Why is that rocket there?
🛑 Real humans rarely write like they’re trying to win at clickbait bingo. AI tends to lead with emojis and high-impact words like unlock, skyrocket, revolutionize, or transform your life in 3 easy steps. It's not always wrong—but it’s rarely authentic.
đź’¬ 2. The Sentence That Went to Harvard and Never Came Back
“In today’s rapidly evolving digital ecosystem, leveraging scalable paradigms ensures stakeholder alignment.”
Translation: “Say what now?”
Overly formal, jargon-laden, or corporate-speak-heavy language is a red flag. Especially when every paragraph sounds like it was workshopped by a committee of consultants.
🧱 3. Blocky, Over-Structured Formatting
Paragraph.
Bullet list.
Summary.
CTA.
Rinse.
Repeat.
AI loves structure. Human writers might meander, digress, or even ramble—but that’s what gives their writing texture.
🤹 4. Emojis… Just… Everywhere
One at the top is fun.
One at the end? Sure.
But when there’s a confetti cannon after every paragraph and the call to action ends with 🧠⚡️🔥💪💥—you’re probably dealing with a bot.
🧵 5. “Here’s a Thread:” Syndrome
Even outside Twitter/X, AI often mimics the cadence of thread posts:
Hook
Insight
More insight
Motivational mic drop
“Follow me for more!”
This rinse-and-repeat rhythm is great for growth hacking. Less great for sounding human.
🧍‍♀️ 6. The Identikit Personal Story
AI's version of a personal anecdote:
"I used to struggle with imposter syndrome. Then I discovered this one simple mindset shift that changed everything."
Real stories are messy. They have oddly specific details. They don’t always resolve into lessons. If it reads like a Pixar arc in 3 paragraphs, it’s probably synthetic.
✒️ 7. Punctuation Tells: When the Syntax Squeals
1. Title Case Headlines
It’s Like This, For Every Line, Like We’re All Writing The Great Gatsby.
No one talks—or writes—like that anymore. Unless they’re a style guide or an algorithm trained on one.
2. Em Dash Abuse
A well-placed — em dash — adds drama.
But a cascade of them — especially mid-thought — looks like someone leaned on the keyboard — hard.
Human writers mix it up with commas, parentheses, or—dare we say—less punctuation altogether.
3. Overuse of Perfect Periods
AI writes like it’s afraid of run-ons.
Everything is neatly chopped. Sentences are short. Crisp. Clipped.
But real people? Sometimes we ramble, stretch thoughts across commas, or trail off entirely…
4. Curated Contractions
AI sometimes forgets to use contractions—or uses too many in a row.
Real humans tend to mix them naturally. We’ll write “you’re,” “you’ll,” “you’d”—but not every time.
That “I will not stand for it” instead of “I won’t” can feel suspiciously stiff.
5. Suspiciously Polished Punctuation
No missing commas. No lowercase “i” in sight. Ellipses are always three dots, never two or four.
In short: Too clean to be real.
🦾 8. The Too-Perfect Conclusion
AI loves a clean wrap-up. Bonus points for:
A call to action (“What do YOU think?”)
An inspirational platitude (“You’ve got this.”)
Or a LinkedIn-friendly moral (“It’s not about working harder—it’s about working smarter.”)
Weirdly satisfying. Weirdly suspicious.
✍️ Final Tell? The Voice That’s Trying a Bit Too Hard
Most AI tools aren’t bad at writing. But they’re terrified of being boring—so they overcompensate. The result? A slightly overeager tone that’s trying to be your best friend, life coach, and mentor, all at once.
Want to make your content unmistakably human?
Try writing like you're talking to one person, not presenting to the crowd. Throw in an odd detail. Use a phrase you’ve never seen in a blog post before. And for the love of clarity—limit your emoji intake.
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This post was created by a trained GPTs with just a little help from a human.