Artificial intelligence is playing an increasingly prominent role in content creation. Tools like ChatGPT have revolutionized the way people write, offering speed, efficiency, and an impressive grasp of language. However, AI-generated text often carries subtle (and sometimes not-so-subtle) indicators that make it clear it was not written by a human. When crafting blog posts, essays, or professional emails, avoiding these telltale words and phrases can help your writing sound more natural and authentic.
1. Overuse of Politeness and Formality
AI-generated text often leans toward excessive politeness, making it sound robotic or overly refined. While being polite is generally a good thing, ChatGPT sometimes takes it too far, using phrases like:
- “I hope this message finds you well.”
- “I would be delighted to assist you with that.”
- “Kindly let me know if you need further clarification.”
Humans tend to be more casual and direct, especially in informal or day-to-day communication. Instead of these overly formal phrases, consider simplifying:
- “Hope you’re doing well.”
- “Happy to help!”
- “Let me know if you have any questions.”
2. Redundant Sentence Structures
ChatGPT has a habit of being unnecessarily verbose, often restating points in slightly different ways. This results in passages that feel repetitive and padded. For example:
- “It is important to note that…”
- “This is due to the fact that…”
- “One must keep in mind that…”
More natural alternatives would be:
- “Note that…”
- “Because…”
- “Keep in mind…”
3. Clichéd Transitions and Fillers
AI-generated writing frequently relies on generic transitions that don’t always feel organic. Phrases such as:
- “That being said,”
- “In today’s fast-paced world,”
- “Without further ado,”
- “It is worth mentioning that…”
- “In the ever-evolving landscape of…”
While these aren’t inherently wrong, they often sound formulaic. Instead, use transitions that fit the context more naturally, or better yet, remove them if they aren’t necessary.
4. Repetitive Word Choice
ChatGPT tends to favor certain words and phrases, often repeating them in close proximity. For instance:
- “Significant”
- “Comprehensive”
- “Furthermore”
- “Crucial”
- “Detailed”
- “Expert-level”
- “Step-by-step”
This can make writing feel monotonous. A good way to counteract this is to vary vocabulary or restructure sentences to avoid redundancy.
5. Forced Objectivity and Unnecessary Qualification
AI tries to sound neutral and balanced, often adding hedging phrases that aren’t always needed:
- “It can be argued that…”
- “Some might say that…”
- “To some extent…”
- “It is generally believed that…”
While hedging is useful in academic or opinion writing, humans tend to be more decisive. If you have a point to make, just say it directly.
6. Overly Detailed Yet Vague Introductions
Another dead giveaway of AI writing is its tendency to over-explain simple concepts. Consider this:
“Since the dawn of civilization, humans have sought to improve their understanding of the world around them. This pursuit of knowledge has led to numerous advancements in science, technology, and communication.”
While this sentence isn’t incorrect, it is unnecessarily broad and doesn’t provide useful information. Human writers usually get to the point more quickly.
7. Over-Explaining Common Knowledge
ChatGPT sometimes explains things that most readers already know. For example:
“Social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram allow users to connect with others, share content, and engage in discussions.”
This kind of statement adds little value. A human writer might simply say, “On social media, people share and discuss ideas.”
8. Overuse of Concluding Phrases
ChatGPT loves to wrap up sections with unnecessary conclusions. You might recognize endings like:
- “In conclusion, it is evident that…”
- “Ultimately, this highlights the importance of…”
- “To summarize, one can see that…”
While conclusions are useful, they don’t need to be forced into every paragraph. Often, a strong final sentence makes a summary unnecessary.
How to Make Your Writing Sound More Human
Now that you know what to watch out for, here are some strategies to make AI-assisted writing more natural:
- Edit ruthlessly: Trim excessive politeness, filler words, and redundant phrases.
- Use contractions: ChatGPT tends to avoid them, but humans use them naturally (e.g., “don’t” instead of “do not”).
- Write how you speak: Read your text aloud to see if it sounds natural.
- Inject personality: Use humor, anecdotes, and unique phrasing to make your writing sound more authentic.
- Vary sentence structure: Mix short and long sentences to improve flow.
AI-generated writing is an incredible tool, but it still requires human touch to make it engaging and original. By recognizing and adjusting these common giveaways, you can ensure your content sounds more natural, fluid, and uniquely yours.
Words and Phrases Overused by ChatGPT and LLMs
General Overused Words
- Indeed
- Essentially
- Significantly
- Notably
- Furthermore
- Moreover
- Inherently
- Arguably
- Seamlessly
- Vast
Filler Phrases
- It’s worth noting that…
- That being said…
- As previously mentioned…
- At the end of the day…
- Needless to say…
- One could argue that…
- To a certain extent…
- In a nutshell…
- In today’s world…
- In other words…
AI Jargon & Buzzwords
- Cutting-edge
- State-of-the-art
- Next-generation
- Innovative
- Revolutionary
- Game-changer
- Paradigm shift
- Machine learning-powered
- Neural network-driven
- Artificial intelligence-driven
Expressions of Uncertainty & Soft Language
- It seems that…
- Likely…
- Potentially…
- Arguably…
- In many cases…
- Somewhat…
- A degree of…
- It could be said that…
- There is a possibility that…
- It appears that…
Overused in Explanations
- To put it simply…
- In simple terms…
- In layman’s terms…
- To break it down…
- A fundamental aspect of…
- At its core…
- On a deeper level…
- From a broader perspective…
- An essential component of…
- A key takeaway is…
Introductory Phrases
- “As an AI language model, I can say that…”
- “It’s important to note that…”
- “One could argue that…”
- “In today’s fast-paced world…”
- “With that being said…”
- “That brings us to…”
- “At the end of the day…”
- “When it comes to…”
- “To put it simply…”
- “A common misconception is…”
Filler & Transition Phrases
- “Furthermore, it should be noted that…”
- “This begs the question…”
- “A deeper look into this topic reveals…”
- “This is a nuanced topic that requires careful consideration.”
- “While this is generally true, there are exceptions…”
- “It’s a matter of perspective…”
- “The reality is more complex than it seems.”
- “From a broader perspective…”
- “It’s worth exploring further…”
- “In many cases, this holds true…”
Explanatory Phrases
- “To break it down…”
- “Let’s dive deeper into this…”
- “A key takeaway is…”
- “At its core, this concept revolves around…”
- “A fundamental aspect of this is…”
- “This is best understood through an example…”
- “It all comes down to…”
- “The essence of this idea is…”
- “To illustrate this further…”
- “To better understand this, let’s consider…”
Hedging & Soft Language
- “It seems that…”
- “There is a possibility that…”
- “To a certain extent…”
- “In some cases…”
- “Arguably, this could be considered…”
- “It can be said that…”
- “While not always the case…”
- “This may depend on various factors…”
- “Somewhat related to this is…”
- “It’s not a one-size-fits-all answer…”
Closing & Summary Phrases
- “Ultimately, the choice depends on…”
- “In conclusion, it’s safe to say…”
- “To sum it up…”
- “In short, this means…”
- “The bottom line is…”
- “When all is said and done…”
- “Taking everything into account…”
- “With all this in mind…”
- “This is just the tip of the iceberg…”
- “At the core of it all…”
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