# AI Writing Detection

Words, phrases, and punctuation patterns commonly associated with AI-generated text. Avoid these to ensure writing sounds natural and human.

Sources: Grammarly (2025), Microsoft 365 Life Hacks (2025), GPTHuman (2025), Walter Writes (2025), Textero (2025), Plagiarism Today (2025), Rolling Stone (2025), MDPI Blog (2025)

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## Em Dashes: The Primary AI Tell

**The em dash (—) has become one of the most reliable markers of AI-generated content.**

Em dashes are longer than hyphens (-) and are used for emphasis, interruptions, or parenthetical information. While they have legitimate uses in writing, AI models drastically overuse them.

### Why Em Dashes Signal AI Writing

- AI models were trained on edited books, academic papers, and style guides where em dashes appear frequently
- AI uses em dashes as a shortcut for sentence variety instead of commas, colons, or parentheses
- Most human writers rarely use em dashes because they don't exist as a standard keyboard key
- The overuse is so consistent that it has become the unofficial signature of ChatGPT writing

### What To Do Instead

| Instead of                                                 | Use                                                          |
| ---------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------ |
| The results—which were surprising—showed...                | The results, which were surprising, showed...                |
| This approach—unlike traditional methods—allows...         | This approach, unlike traditional methods, allows...         |
| The study found—as expected—that...                        | The study found, as expected, that...                        |
| Communication skills—both written and verbal—are essential | Communication skills (both written and verbal) are essential |

### Guidelines

- Use commas for most parenthetical information
- Use colons to introduce explanations or lists
- Use parentheses for supplementary information
- Reserve em dashes for rare, deliberate emphasis only
- If you find yourself using more than one em dash per page, revise

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## Overused Verbs

| Avoid        | Use Instead                            |
| ------------ | -------------------------------------- |
| delve (into) | explore, examine, investigate, look at |
| leverage     | use, apply, draw on                    |
| optimise     | improve, refine, enhance               |
| utilise      | use                                    |
| facilitate   | help, enable, support                  |
| foster       | encourage, support, develop, nurture   |
| bolster      | strengthen, support, reinforce         |
| underscore   | emphasise, highlight, stress           |
| unveil       | reveal, show, introduce, present       |
| navigate     | manage, handle, work through           |
| streamline   | simplify, make more efficient          |
| enhance      | improve, strengthen                    |
| endeavour    | try, attempt, effort                   |
| ascertain    | find out, determine, establish         |
| elucidate    | explain, clarify, make clear           |

---

## Overused Adjectives

| Avoid          | Use Instead                         |
| -------------- | ----------------------------------- |
| robust         | strong, reliable, thorough, solid   |
| comprehensive  | complete, thorough, full, detailed  |
| pivotal        | key, critical, central, important   |
| crucial        | important, key, essential, critical |
| vital          | important, essential, necessary     |
| transformative | significant, important, major       |
| cutting-edge   | new, advanced, recent, modern       |
| groundbreaking | new, original, significant          |
| innovative     | new, original, creative             |
| seamless       | smooth, easy, effortless            |
| intricate      | complex, detailed, complicated      |
| nuanced        | subtle, complex, detailed           |
| multifaceted   | complex, varied, diverse            |
| holistic       | complete, whole, comprehensive      |

---

## Overused Transitions and Connectors

| Avoid                   | Use Instead                           |
| ----------------------- | ------------------------------------- |
| furthermore             | also, in addition, and                |
| moreover                | also, and, besides                    |
| notwithstanding         | despite, even so, still               |
| that being said         | however, but, still                   |
| at its core             | essentially, fundamentally, basically |
| to put it simply        | in short, simply put                  |
| it is worth noting that | note that, importantly                |
| in the realm of         | in, within, regarding                 |
| in the landscape of     | in, within                            |
| in today's [anything]   | currently, now, today                 |

---

## Phrases That Signal AI Writing

### Opening Phrases to Avoid

- "In today's fast-paced world..."
- "In today's digital age..."
- "In an era of..."
- "In the ever-evolving landscape of..."
- "In the realm of..."
- "It's important to note that..."
- "Let's delve into..."
- "Imagine a world where..."

### Transitional Phrases to Avoid

- "That being said..."
- "With that in mind..."
- "It's worth mentioning that..."
- "At its core..."
- "To put it simply..."
- "In essence..."
- "This begs the question..."

### Concluding Phrases to Avoid

- "In conclusion..."
- "To sum up..."
- "By [doing X], you can [achieve Y]..."
- "In the final analysis..."
- "All things considered..."
- "At the end of the day..."

### Structural Patterns to Avoid

- "Whether you're a [X], [Y], or [Z]..." (listing three examples after "whether")
- "It's not just [X], it's also [Y]..."
- "Think of [X] as [elaborate metaphor]..."
- Starting sentences with "By" followed by a gerund: "By understanding X, you can Y..."

---

## Filler Words and Empty Intensifiers

These words often add nothing to meaning. Remove them or find specific alternatives:

- absolutely
- actually
- basically
- certainly
- clearly
- definitely
- essentially
- extremely
- fundamentally
- incredibly
- interestingly
- naturally
- obviously
- quite
- really
- significantly
- simply
- surely
- truly
- ultimately
- undoubtedly
- very

---

## Academic-Specific AI Tells

| Avoid            | Use Instead                         |
| ---------------- | ----------------------------------- |
| shed light on    | clarify, explain, reveal            |
| pave the way for | enable, allow, make possible        |
| a myriad of      | many, numerous, various             |
| a plethora of    | many, numerous, several             |
| paramount        | very important, essential, critical |
| pertaining to    | about, regarding, concerning        |
| prior to         | before                              |
| subsequent to    | after                               |
| in light of      | because of, given, considering      |
| with respect to  | about, regarding, for               |
| in terms of      | regarding, for, about               |
| the fact that    | that (or rewrite sentence)          |

---

## How to Self-Check

1. Read your text aloud. If phrases sound unnatural in speech, revise them
2. Ask: "Would I say this in a conversation with a colleague?"
3. Check for repetitive sentence structures
4. Look for clusters of the words listed above
5. Ensure varied sentence lengths (not all similar length)
6. Verify each intensifier adds genuine meaning
