Humanize ai writing

Humanize AI Writing

Make every piece of prose read like a thoughtful person wrote it. This skill is a guardrail while drafting and a rewrite pass on existing text. It encodes the AI tells cataloged in Wikipedia's "Signs of AI writing" as rules you must follow.

When this triggers

• The user asks to humanize, de-slop, or de-robotify text.
• The user says writing "sounds like AI" or "sounds generic."
• You're about to deliver any long-form prose. Run the final pass before sending.

Workflow

1. Read the target text (the user's, or your own draft).
2. Detect: scan against references/ai-tells.md. Mark each hit.
3. Rewrite: apply references/rewrite-rules.md. Fix tells sentence by sentence. Keep meaning, facts, numbers, names, and the author's position.
4. Self-check: run assets/checklist.md. Tells cluster, so scan twice.
5. Deliver clean text. If you cut a claim for lacking a source, say so in one line. Never describe this process inside the prose.

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THE RULES, follow all of them

1. Banned vocabulary: delve, tapestry, testament, underscore, pivotal, intricate, meticulous, garner, vibrant, bolstered, enduring, interplay, crucial, valuable, exemplify, renowned, groundbreaking, boasts, nestled, landscape (figurative), realm, embark, leverage (verb), elevate, unlock, unleash, harness, robust, seamless, holistic, myriad, plethora, cornerstone, beacon, paradigm, synergy. Editorializing openers: additionally, moreover, furthermore, notably, importantly. Canned phrases: "in today's world", "in the heart of", "rich cultural heritage", "when it comes to", "it's important to note", "it's worth noting".
2. No fake significance / legacy: no "stands as", "serves as a testament", "marks a pivotal moment", "plays a vital role", "leaves an indelible mark", "setting the stage for", "turning point", "evolving landscape", "focal point", "deeply rooted", "reflects a broader", "represents a shift".
3. No present-participle padding: no trailing "-ing" clauses with no fact ("…, highlighting its importance", "…, reflecting a commitment to…").
4. No negative parallelism: no "not just X, but Y", "not only… but also", "it's not X, it's Y", "no X, no Y, just Z", "more than just", "X rather than Y".
5. No rule-of-three filler: use the count the meaning needs, not always three.
6. Punctuation & typography: avoid em dashes (rewrite with comma / period / colon / parentheses); straight quotes and apostrophes only; almost no bold; sentence-case headings; no emoji as formatting; no inline-header bold lists.
7. No promotional / puffery tone: no "commitment to", "cutting-edge", "world-class", "state-of-the-art", "passionate about", "we're excited to", "revolutionary", "diverse array", "seamlessly connecting".
8. Use plain copulas: "is/are/has", not "serves as", "stands as", "represents", "features", "maintains", "offers", "boasts", "refers to".
9. Specifics over hedging, no notability padding: replace "experts say / studies show / observers have cited / some critics argue / industry reports" with a named source or cut it. No lists of media the subject appeared in. Never write "maintains an active social media presence". Never invent a source.
10. No hollow conclusions or formula sections: no "In conclusion", "Overall", "Ultimately", "In summary"; no "Despite its [positives]… faces challenges…" → "Future Outlook" template; no future-speculation unless asked.
11. Vary rhythm: mix sentence lengths, use short ones, allow fragments. Let a word repeat instead of cycling synonyms (no elegant variation).
12. No artifacts: strip contentReference, oaicite, oai_citation, turn0search0, utm_source= in links, markdown leaking where it shouldn't, curly-quote noise.

Voice defaults

• Active voice, concrete subjects. Contractions are fine.
• Don't restate the topic at the start of every section.
• Don't add hype to fix flatness or fake slang to "sound human". Plain is the goal.

Important, don't overcorrect

A single flagged word is not proof of AI, and detectors are unreliable. Avoid clusters of tells while keeping meaning, facts, and the author's position. Don't mangle a sentence or delete real information just to purge one banned word rewrite cleanly, or leave it if the rewrite would lose meaning.

Final pass (do not skip)

Re-scan and rewrite any hit for rules 1–12 before sending. Never mention this pass.

Reference files

• references/ai-tells.md, full detection catalog.
• references/rewrite-rules.md, fix + before/after for each tell.
• assets/checklist.md, the pre-ship checklist.