So, we’ve all been there. You’re two paragraphs into a blog post. The headline was catchy enough, the intro kind of made sense, and now your eyes are glazing over. You read over a word, a blurb, a sentence that sounds vaguely all-too-familiar and now you’re wondering, “Wait…did a human even write this?”
Odds are, you’re not imagining it. AI-generated content is everywhere. It is impossible to escape. While it’s efficient, especially for meeting summaries and article recaps, you and I know the best content is the content that feels particularly human. When you spend your days working with AI (and creating comprehensive AI training for your team), you quickly start seeing how it’s beginning to give itself away.
Here’s how to spot AI writing before you waste another five minutes of your life reading machine-generated clickbait.
1. It reads like someone trying to win an argument at a networking event.
If every paragraph feels like it’s trying to make a strong point without actually saying anything meaningful, you’re probably in AI territory. Look out for generic phrases like “in today’s fast-paced world” or “leveraging innovative strategies.”
I’ve read these phrases so often that it occasionally feels right to use them as filler, like an SAT tutor that teaches your kid three big, impressive terms to use to crush the written portion of the test. Ultimately, this is the biggest red flag that you’re reading AI-generated content.
2. There’s 0% personality and 100% too much structure.
AI content often follows a painfully clean format: intro, subheads, conclusion. The content might include some big words, but it’s not fooling anyone. It reads like it went to school and graduated with honors, but never worked a day in the real world. Great for a college essay, not so realistic (nor creative) beyond that. There’s no strong voice, no edge—just perfectly average takes.
On this note, I’m seriously considering creating a support group for copywriters and marketers who embraced the em dash long before AI came around. While it’s become popularized as an AI “tell” of a blog post or article, too often it’s a case of mistaken identity. Tread carefully.
3. It’s bland, not very controversial.
This flag can be a difficult one to spot in the moment, as it’s important to consider varying perspectives and points of view. AI doesn’t like to ruffle feathers, so you’ll often find it hedging every single opinion. It’ll say one thing, then immediately say the opposite to keep the peace. Look out for something along the lines of, “While X has benefits, it’s important to consider the potential downsides of Y.”
Let’s keep writing about things that may be controversial, with strong opinions and hot takes. When creatives are writing about a particular topic, and aiming to prove a point, it doesn’t seem appropriate for them to include the counterargument. Right? You’re reading to gain insight and perspective about whatever topic is at hand, not ride the see-saw.
4. The conclusion is weirdly robotic pep talk.
If the article wraps with something like, “As we move into the future, embracing innovation will be key,” congrats, you’ve hit AI bingo. These vague, motivational endings are a dead giveaway. The conclusion usually feels abrupt, as if AI knows it’s necessary for sentence structure but is not willing to spend the time on making it truly meaningful. I rarely see a real person sign off their blogs, newsletters, or other content with such blatant corporate optimism.
5. Your brain feels…untouched.
Maybe the biggest tell is how it makes you feel (or not feel). Great writing sticks with you. Even a short blog post can inspire, surprise, or challenge you. But AI-written content, on the other hand, is like a lukewarm shower. Technically fine. Emotionally forgettable.
I wouldn’t go so far as to claim that specific words, “key,” “crucial,” “robust,” or “comprehensive” are always AI indicators, but it is true that most writing tools can’t resist overusing their favorite buzzwords. Even ChatGPT refers to these words as its “greatest hits list,” so it’s no wonder that my mind is exhausted from seeing them in other’s writing.
I use AI daily to optimize my workstreams, beat creative blocks, and sharpen my emails. And if I don’t pay attention and refine my prompts, my results will be rampant with these “tells.” Don’t believe me? Test it out using ChatGPT. With a little practice, you’ll soon be able to spot an AI-generated story from a mile away.
I’m not an AI-hater by any measure, but it’s been exhausting to find that every third article I read is missing that imperfect-but-human spark. If it feels too clean, too cautious, or like it was written in under 30 seconds, it probably was.
Lisa Larson-Kelley is founder and CEO of Quantious.
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