My natural writing resembles AI - help!

It’s becoming more and more of a problem. People having their written work diminished as “AI”. Front page news stories of university lecturers claiming fraudulent essays, while students fight back: “I wrote that myself”. 

And as the number of AI tools grows and grows, it’s likely this will only happen more and more. Soon, AI tools will be able to seriously and sophisticatedly mimic someone’s writing, and it’ll become almost indistinguishable. 

But maybe that’s already happened to you. If you’re someone who uses a number of “AI indicators” in your natural writing, you might have already been called out for using a little too much ChatGPT.  Which can be a bit of a knock back especially if you’re a seasoned writer, so let’s take a look at what those AI indicators are, how you can write less like AI… and well, if you actually should, or just keep writing the way you naturally do! 

How can you tell if something is written by AI?

There is actually no real way to find out if something is written by AI. You’ll often hear about AI detection tools, but in reality these tools can’t tell if something is written by AI. They just analyse text for patterns common in AI-generated content, such as lower predictability and sentence structure, but they rely on probabilities, not certainties, and can be wrong, especially if you naturally write in a similar way to an AI tool such as ChatGPT. 

That being said, there are a few common myths circulating of how you can tell if something is AI. You’ve probably already seen it on LinkedIn, but here’s a quick summary of a few things to watch out for.

• The em dash

• “Delve”

• “Crucial,” “pivotal,” or “paramount”

• Generic wrap-ups like “in conclusion”

• Giving “both sides” even when unnecessary

• Vague, placeholder examples instead of real specifics

Of course, none of these things necessarily mean it’s AI written. And as AI modules evolve, these indicators will change - meaning different writing nuances you use might become the new indicators for “this was written using AI”. 

How to write less like AI?

If you’re hell bent on changing your writing style to make sure it’s less AI, there are tricks you can fall back on to help. 

Personalise your writing

I don’t mean in the same way of personalising outreach. Personalise your writing using anecdotes, real life experiences and moments from your life - those can’t be imagined by an AI bot, those are unique to you. 

Writing in situ

This is something I was taught at university (yes, I took a Creative Writing BA). Writing in situation can help you bring emotion into your writing. Sure, you might be writing a social post about a new ramen special at your restaurant, not writing about the great depression, but you can still bring emotion into it. You can sit down and enjoy that ramen, see how it feels to visit your restaurant with fresh eyes, and fully immerse yourself in the experience that your customers will experience. 

Get inspiration from other humans

A bit of a weird one but it makes sense. Read human-written content. A big portion of what most people read these days, especially online, could be AI written. And it can influence the way you write yourself. Spend more time reading human-written content, and different kinds of it. Books, magazines, newspapers etc. 

We often mirror the writing we read, so if you’re reading too much AI-written content, you’re likely to start writing in that way.

Should I be worried if my natural writing sounds like AI?

In my opinion, no. If you’re worried about the way your content is being perceived, maybe it’s time to rethink how you think about writing. If you’re putting out written content for the sake of it, it may be dry, and sound like an AI, and in that case, might be boring for your readers. That’s when it becomes a real problem. Because ultimately, you want your content to be interesting, engaging and do what you want it to do which is most likely,  resonate with your audience. 

One final tip from me 

If you’re really in a rut with your writing sounding like AI, one exercise you can try:

• Take a writing prompt such as a LinkedIn post for your Black Friday sale, or a blog about your writing less like an AI

• Then write it in different styles, try writing it like:

  • A tabloid newspaper article

  • A poem

  • A short story

  • A recipe

This can be a great way to get out of your usual writing style and think about writing in a completely different way. 

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How do AI detection tools work?

AI detection tools analyse patterns in text and compare them to known characteristics of machine-generated writing. They look at factors like sentence structure, repetitiveness, predictability, punctuation patterns, and how often certain words appear together. 

Some tools also measure “perplexity” (how predictable the text is) and “burstiness” (variation in sentence length and complexity). Human writing is usually more irregular, while AI writing tends to be smoother, more uniform, and statistically predictable.

However, no detector is 100% accurate, false positives and false negatives are common, so they should be used as one signal, not definitive proof.

Why does my writing get flagged as AI even though I wrote it myself?

Human writing can get flagged as AI for several reasons: highly polished grammar, consistent tone, long flowing sentences, or heavy use of transitions and formatting like em dashes or semicolons. 

Academic, professional, or non-fiction writing is especially vulnerable because it naturally uses the same clarity and structure that AI models produce. Detectors may mistake well-organised or formal writing for machine-generated text, even when it’s entirely human. If this happens, adding personal insights, examples, or varied sentence styles can help.

Can Google penalise my site if my writing looks like it was generated by AI?

No. Google does not penalise content simply because it resembles AI writing. What matters is whether the content is helpful, accurate, and written for people rather than search engines. If your writing is original, adds real value, and demonstrates expertise or personal insight, it’s fully compliant with Google’s guidelines. 

Problems arise only if content is low-quality, thin, or unhelpful, issues that can occur in both human and AI-written text. Improving clarity, adding unique examples, and showing first-hand experience can further reinforce to both readers and algorithms that your work is human and high-quality.