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note: all screenshots in this post were taken from different authors who i believe display traits of ai writing, unless stated otherwise. i will not be naming them. this post is not to encourage hate, but to bring awareness to the topic.

first, lets go over what does NOT indicate ai text:

use of emdashes (—)

i love my em dash. alt 0151 my beloved. em dashes are a hallmark of human writing and date back to the 15th century. they fell out of use when type writers came into market (as there was no button for it), but they remain in literature use to this day.

curly or smart quotes (“ ” / ‘ ’)

i recently found out this is a default setting for apple devices. if someone types on an ipad, it's likely that their work will spit out curly quotes. that being said, it's glaringly obvious that ai has been used in the context when the work shifts from straight quotes to curly quotes. example:

single sentence paragraph pacing: one of the most IMMEDIATE giveaways is the staccato pacing. LLMs are trained to be highly readable, which often results in... constant line breaks—almost every sentence/short phrase is in its own paragraph. while human authors do this occasionally for dramatics, ai uses it as a default setting to create a "poetic" or "profound" feel.

excessive em dash usage—i love my em dash. i have the alt code memorised by heart(alt0151). ai just... uses them to create fake tension or lack of breath.

lack of paragraph density—there are no "meaty" paragraphs (for lack of a better word). humans typically vary in paragraph length, mixing long descriptions with short burst of action. (this was from my presentation. i marked the one that was ai gen with blue (as i have been so far), but i'd hope it's obvious anyway.)

2. "The Gaze" and micro-physicality: LLMs have a specific way of describing physical intimacy and tension that focuses on a predictable set of actions. for example, The Eye-Flick (these are both from the same author, different fics posted a day apart)

this "eye-to-mouth-to-eye" sequence is a staple in ai writing for romantic tension. don't get me wrong, human writers do this too (i might have even done it before idr), but there's a point where it's in every single piece an "author" puts out and you start to wonder if they have any other thoughts in their mind other than "grok make romance" hands/wrist focus—the description of the thumb resting on the wrist to feel a pulse ("Fast. Human.") is a very common AI sensory beat. it uses "human" as a shorthand for emotional weight in a way that feels slightly detached. because... ai doesn't feel emotion. it doesn't understand tension. (also, ai's are OBSESSED with the concept of humanity, so adding in a "human" here and there makes it feel more ""human"" in a way it never will be.) for example, i have 2 uses of the word "human" in a fic i am writing that currently has ~60k words total. here are all 2 uses:

3. sentence echos, rules of 3 and symmetry—AI often repeats sentence structures for emphasis, which is repetitive and blatant when overused. the "not this, but that" construction—

now, this one needs some nuance. human's love 3's. the rule of three has been around in writing forever. it's seen a lot in children's books (goldilocks and the three bears, three blind mice, three muskateers, etc) but LLM's have a tendency to overuse the rule of 3, ESPECIALLY when using adjectives, which makes the writing lack depth despite being bloated. that being said, here are some examples that i think are sus—

(a side note, i would like to thank @moesthinking for highlighting this blog—in the first 3 images—in their anti-ai post. it has been so useful for examples.) (im sorry for tagging you i hope you dont get scared immediately IUGHAIUGHAEGIUAHGUIA)

4. vagueness—because ai doesn't actually "know" what a character is feeling (spoiler; it isn't human), it often resorts to telling the reader that an expression is impossible to read, because it's easier to explain something you don't understand when you dodge the subject matter ex: "...something unreadable flickering there.(in that post i mentioned we'd talk about later... here we are)" human writers are more likely to describe a specific internal conflict or a unique facial twitch rather than calling it "unreadable" 24/7

5. overuse of select words—there are certain words that ai models gravitate toward when trying to write tension or atmosphere. now, human writers also love certain words. i, for example, am guilty of the following:

what can i say! i love saying my characters mumbled/murmured words. but there's a point where it becomes... egregious. some words that are typically overused/used out of place are:

shiver/tremble

electric

palpable

something

almost

pulse

lingered

loomed

barely

there are many more, but it's far too many to list in a tumblr post. of course, none of these immediately mean someone is using ai—these are words that human writers use, and words that i've probably used before, but you begin to notice a pattern after a while.

now, let's get into some speed-rounds because i've been doing a lot of yapping:

uncanny valley of english language/metaphors & similies that dont make sense (rain-soaked laughter, the sound itself burned, opening a door that didnt exist yet, striking the perfect pose in photography)

excessive vague praise (you embodied them / essence of what makes you, you / you gifted them to the rest of us / you give them life)

constantly restating itself or adding unneeded context (see: section 3)

generic stories. human stories typically include the author injected into the writing. (i dont have a direct example for this. here's a bit from a draft of crush that is literally stuff that reminds me of my ex-situationship)

anyways, if you've read this far, thank you for reading. once again, this post isn't to direct hate towards any blogs/works of writing in this post, and to remind you that none of these will 100% confirm ai usage, but it's simply to call out behaviour and provide what i hope is context for those who arent aware. if you're going to actively claim you don't use ai but use it (esp. so obviously), you need to get ████ ███ ███████ ███████ ███ ██████ ████ █ ███████ █████ ███████ ███ ███ ███ ████ ███ but anyways. this blog doesn't have asks on, but i'd love to hear your thoughts in tags/comments. much love yall.