How to Write With AI Without Sounding Like AI
The difference between writers who use AI well and those who don't is editing discipline. Here's the playbook.
By AI Productivity Hub Editorial Team7 min read
Generic AI writing is a choice, not a fate. With three principles and five edits you can keep your voice while halving drafting time.
The 3 principles
- Outline yourself — let AI draft only the prose.
- Always paste 2–3 examples of your own writing in the prompt.
- Edit the first and last lines of every paragraph by hand.
5 edits that strip AI tells
- Delete every instance of 'in today's fast-paced world'.
- Cut sentences that start with 'However,' or 'Moreover,'.
- Replace adjective stacks ('powerful, robust, scalable') with one good one.
- Add one specific concrete detail per paragraph.
- Read aloud — fix anything that makes you wince.
Key takeaways
- AI drafts, you edit. Never the other way around.
- Examples > instructions for style.
- Five edits beat any tool.
Sources & further reading
Frequently asked questions
Will Google detect AI writing?
Detection is unreliable. Quality is what matters.
Get the weekly AI productivity briefing
One short email every Sunday. The tools, prompts and workflows that mattered most this week.