how to write less like a bot

01 Jul 2025

Wikipedia has a page of AI catchphrases, which are phrases and formatting conventions typical of AI chatbots, such as ChatGPT.

The list isn’t just useful for trying to spot if some text was generated by AI. (That’s a hard task that’s probably a bad idea to try, because you end up blaming too many innocent people. As a large language model, I cannot advise you to rely on automated AI detection services.) What’s really valuable about this list is the examples of ways to improve human-written text.

is/stands as/serves as a testament, plays a vital/significant role, underscores its importance, continues to captivate, leaves a lasting impact, watershed moment, key turning point ChatGPT puffs up the importance of the subject matter with reminders that it represents or contributes to a broader topic. Might as well replace these assertions of importance with some useful info.
rich cultural heritage, rich history, breathtaking, must-visit, must-see, stunning natural beauty, enduring/lasting legacy, rich cultural tapestry These are all opportunities to get specific and show not tell. Use a memorable fact instead of one of these claims?
it’s important to note/remember/consider, it is worth, no discussion would be complete without These should go without saying. Otherwise, why put more wear on your one wild and precious set of carpal tunnels even typing it?
on the other hand, moreover, in addition, furthermore More extra verbiage. It might make the AI-generated text flow better to a reviewer, but if the sentence is clear without one of these, it can go.

various, a number of, fairly, and quite Sentences that cut these words out become stronger.
very, extremely, several, exceedingly, many, most, few, vast. Students insert lazy words in order to avoid making a quantitative characterization. They give the impression that the author has not yet conducted said characterization.

Includes a script to spot these along with example Makefile lines.

Bonus links

Make Fun Of Them by Ed Zitron. (I have to disagree with this one. It’s not that today’s leading VCs and Big Tech CEOs lack intelligence, it’s that there’s no g for managers and investors. The current tech big shots came up at a time when transformative inventions were happening faster than the value could be captured. The problem wasn’t inventing, it was getting a piece of the action for your startup or your project within a big company. So they’re probably outliers on the high end of the kind of intelligence required for capturing value. A different kind of intelligence is going to be needed now that useful inventions are growing more scarce.)

Here’s a Tip to Companies: Beware of Promoting AI in Products by Sean Captain. In each test, members of the group that saw the AI-related wording were less likely to say they would want to try, buy or actively seek out any of the products or services being advertised compared with people in the other group.

Why Big Tech Turned Against Democrats — and Democracy by Paul Krugman. The public might not care about the wealth of our new oligarchs if people felt that the tech lords were earning their vast fortunes by providing ever better products. But many people, myself included, feel if anything that what Big Tech offers is getting worse, not better, as companies shift their focus from creating new and useful tools to exploiting their market position. (Related: The Circularity of Meritocracy)

Audiences Prove that the Experts Are Dead Wrong by Ted Gioia. Things will get better. And that will happen even though the forces aligned against creative vocations and human flourishing appear to be huge—so much so that many have given up hope. Today I want to give an example of a reversal that is happening right now—but few have noticed. I’ll explain the shift, and then I will describe in some detail why this is happening.

I Fact-Checked This Cannes-Winning Sustainability Campaign. It’s Bullshit. by Polina Zabrodskaya. Love a good sustainability report. So I did what most agencies don’t: I read it. It’s 302 pages long, which makes finding the key numbers an insane challenge.