AI-generated content simplifies content creation, for sure. I use it frequently. At this point in our assimilation of AI-created content, we are learning to spot the hallmarks that a computer wrote the content.
When I spoke with a marketing manager of a law firm before interviewing the attorney for Legal Nurse Podcast, he pointed out something that helps us understand the level of writing AI produces.
As he explained it, the people who programmed AI wrote at a few levels above the average reader. Their level of education is embedded in AI output and would account for some of the more formal, stilted language.
Here are some practical strategies you can apply to the drafts you get from AI, whether it be ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or Marketr.ai (great for writing marketing copy). Coaches and AI-experts I know consistently recommend that we humanize AI output.
Editing AI-Generated Content
Use stories from your life
We pepper our writing with small, specific observations—something we remember, a quick aside, or a sensory description. AI-generated content tends to stay generic unless you nudge it. Only you can add stories from your experiences. You know best how to describe the details that will resonate with your reader.
Let your rhythm vary
AI-generated output often leans toward evenly-sized sentences. That can be boring. We mix short and long, crisp and meandering sentences. When editing, purposely shift the tempo a bit. It keeps your writing sounding like it came from a human.
Cut anything that feels too neatly packaged
AI loves symmetry. It ends paragraphs with tidy bows. We tend to wander slightly or leave thoughts open-ended. Be a little messy.
Eliminate the superlatives
AI-generated content frequently includes superlatives like “unparalleled,” “transformative experience,” and “next level in your business.” Phrases such as “in today’s world” are also common. Perhaps the most significant cliché about AI is its tendency to reflect a white male bias, a byproduct of those who program it.
Leave a few fingerprints
Most people have small quirks: a favorite phrase, a dry comment, an unexpected analogy. Add a few. They don’t need to be clever—just distinctly yours. Use idioms that are specific to your audience. They are second nature of humans, but AI often struggles with them.
You can ask AI to include human writing flaws
It sounds like an odd recommendation: When writing prompts, you can request AI to produce writing that includes occasional informal phrasing or a sentence that starts in one direction and takes a subtle detour. Those imperfections mimic how people actually write. Here, you are asking AI to write so that it will sound as if you wrote it. That leads me to my next suggestion.
Feed AI your written voice
Give it samples of what you actually wrote. Even a paragraph or two helps it mimic your cadence more closely.
Use empathy
AI lacks the ability to truly understand and convey empathy. AI-generated content defaults to a neutral, polished tone unless told otherwise. If you define a perspective—“write as someone who has spent decades in hospital trauma units,” or “sound like a colleague giving friendly guidance”—the writing gains human specificity. You still need to edit and refine the output.
Allow emotion to be implied instead of declared
AI tends to state emotions outright. We often hint at them. Instead of saying, “This was incredibly beautiful,” you might write, “My heart was full of emotion at the beauty of the experience.” The fuller explanation feels human.
Let meaning carry more weight than structure
If you reread a piece and it feels like the structure is impeccable but stilted, add an observation, an anecdote, or a moment of contrast. We rarely write only to inform—we write to connect.
The larger pattern is this: we write with details, stories, and emotions. AI tends to smooth all three. When you resist the smoothing, the writing feels more alive.
Pat Iyer MSN RN LNCC is a consultant, speaker, author, editor and coach. She has written or edited 71 of her own books and worked with dozens of authors as an editor. Pat is an Amazon international #1 bestselling author. Coaches, consultants, and speakers hire Pat to help release the knowledge inside them so that they can attract their ideal clients.
She delights in assisting people to share their expertise by writing. Pat serves international and national experts as an editor, book coach, and a medical and business writer.
