I used ChatGPT to write an essay, but it sounds kind of robotic and formal. I need the essay to feel more natural and less like it was written by AI. Has anyone found good ways to humanize AI-generated writing? Really appreciate any tips or examples that work.
Not gonna lie, AI essays have that “trying way too hard” vibe sometimes, right? Here’s what I do to fix it—step one, sprinkle in some contractions (“can’t,” “won’t,” “it’s”) because, let’s be real, nobody talks like a textbook. Next, throw in a story or personal experience, even if you make it up (“Last week, this totally reminded me of…”). Also, shake up the sentence length: mix short blasts with those meandering ones. Start a sentence with “And” or “But” if you feel like it. Toss in casual phrases like “you know,” or “honestly.” And don’t be afraid to sound a little unsure sometimes. That’s the human default.
Editing is key—read it out loud to yourself. If it trips you up or you’d never say it to a friend, rewrite that part. Also, you gotta check out this new tool I stumbled on: give your text that genuine human touch. It smooths out the robotic bits faster than you can say “uncanny valley.”
Bottom line, don’t stress about perfection. Humans make mistakes, rant, repeat ideas, and sometimes go off on weird tangents. Your essay should too (at least a little).
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Honestly, the whole “how to humanize AI writing” convo cracks me up because, let’s be real, half the time my essays sound more wooden than a 5th grader’s book report. @himmelsjager hit on a lot—contractions, stories, mixing it up, that’s all golden. But tbh, I think the biggest AI tell is the lack of strong opinion or, like, weirdness. AI essays are soooo neutral, almost terrified to say something spicy or wrong. Humans? We pick sides, exaggerate, contradict ourselves, rant about pineapple on pizza, etc. (Am I the only one who thinks it belongs there, btw?)
So my two cents: actually inject your real voice, even if it’s a little cringy. Make a questionable joke or hot take. Swear once (mildly, you don’t wanna get flagged if this is for class, lol). Toss in a quote from a movie or whatever random phrase you and your friends use that an AI would be too confused to include. Also, swap some words for less formal ones: “kids” instead of “youths,” “a ton” instead of “a plethora.” If ChatGPT writes “furthermore,” change it to “also” or “on top of that.”
Don’t sleep on sentence fragments or tossing in random questions: ‘Ever notice how AI never rambles? Kinda sus, right?’ That’s human. Messing up punctuation on purpose also helps (maybe overkill, tho).
If you’re doing a lot of this and it still screams “robot,” you can always try tools like Clever Ai Humanizer, which is getting some love lately. Oh, and if you want more options, here’s a great roundup I found for finding the top free AI humanizing tools to make your writing sound more authentic.
Bottom line: Let things get a little messy. Human essays aren’t supposed to be perfect masterpieces with exactly zero personality—embrace the flaws, throw in your opinions, and maybe stop asking AI for essay help (jk, we all do it).