How to Remove AI Voice from Your Writing

(Without Sounding Like Everyone Else)

I have heard the whispers in the corners, and I too, have whispered. There is a nameless, creepy, almost dystopian feeling that has cast a shadow on readers and editors over the last couple of years. We all hear it in YouTube narrators, book narrators, Siri, and Alexa. And now it is taking over books. It’s that voice, that same annoying voice of the LLMs.

Well, after the recent tragedy, yes tragedy, of Mia Ballard being the sacrificial lamb. She was the first major publishing deal to be noticeably (I am sure others have preceded her) removed from the market over suspected AI use. We are now all wondering what this means for authors everywhere. Well, it isn’t news… really. It is just a consequence that I foresaw coming. I am not a freaking oracle. I just had a feeling that someone was going to have to lay down the law and be the baddie, and it just ended up that Hatchette had the biggest balls, so far.

After addressing this in our podcast, Pros Talking Prose, I felt the need to take to my pages and create a tool that can help consolidate the massive amount of research that has been widely ignored by authors and editors alike. Because folks, this isn’t new information. For years, studies have been written about the AI voice and what it is and what it generates. With the widespread use of it, we are finally catching up to the fact that it sucks.

So, I am going to say it plainly. READERS CAN FEEL AI WRITING!

They may not be able to prove it, and they may not even know why. But they do know something is off. Right now, it is your responsibility to fix it in your writing, because that “off” feeling is causing authors to lose readers, publishing deals, and worse, their reputations.

So after going down a deep rabbit hole, compiling the data, and putting my thoughts together, I have created a “tool” (I can’t come up with a better word) to help you carve the AI from your writing.

AND NO: You can not use AI to carve the AI from your writing. I have data to back up why that is also a terrible idea.

So if you are using AI to draft, brainstorm, or even lightly edit your work, you probably suspect that you have one too many em dashes or three too many fragmented adjective-focused sentences. Maybe you feel like the smell of anxiety doesn’t taste like copper on a windy day. You are maybe ready to do some work.

You are responsible for removing the AI voice before your reader sees a word!

I have the tool for you. It’s cleverly called “Cleaning AI From Your Prose. ” It will walk you through what the AI voice actually sounds like, why it’s a problem (beyond just the style), and how to start fixing it in your writing today.

The Problem that No One Wants to Admit

AI changes how writing sounds, and it is creepily changing our linguistics as a whole. In a paper titled “Empirical Evidence of Large Language Model’s Influence on Human Spoken Communication” (that is a mouthful), the authors, who are much smarter than I am, found that AI speech patterns are shaping human spoken communication. If that doesn’t creep you out, then you are much more zombified than you should be.

There are some identifiable patterns (linguistic tics) that show up constantly in the AI prose. Do any of these sound familiar?

• Repetitive sentence structures
• Overuse of abstract language
• “Not this, but that” rhetorical framing
• Em dash overload
• Generic, overly polished statements that say… nothing

Well, if it doesn’t sound familiar, you have been buried under a rock. Here’s the kicker, folks. Even when humans revise AI output, the patterns remain. So there it is. You can’t prompt the AI to stop acting like an AI. It doesn’t work.

I outline all this in my “tool,” but I wanted to pop that little bubble up front.

Why This Actually Matters More Than You Think

Before you actually start coming for me with pitchforks, I need you to know that I am NOT AGAINST using AI for certain things. So please don’t hate me, I’m a sensitive flower. But I do want to move past the “style preference” argument and get into the bigger issue.

1. Reader trust is on the line. Don’t believe me? Just look at what happened with Shy Girl. When readers sense AI, it creates distance between you and the reader. Your story will lose its impact.
2. Your Voice Gets Buried. If your manuscript is layered with AI phrasing, then your editor isn’t refining you. In fact, it would be terribly difficult for them to find you. They would be excavating you.
3. Copyright Risk is Real. That is the real reason Hatchette removed Mia’s book from the market. You can’t copyright AI. That is just a fact. While some claim to have slipped through the Copyright Office and gotten their certification, it remains to be seen if they could actually litigate. The laws are made in the courts people. Also, you should know that the UK has backtracked on its pro-AI stance on copyright. So, even if you were going to copyright in the UK after using AI to write your manuscript, that doesn’t hold water anymore.
4. Editors Can Tell FAST! You might think the AI voice is subtle, but it’s not. After reviewing thousands of AI-written pages (not an exaggeration), I can tell you that AI writing patterns are real. Once you see them, you can’t unsee (or unhear) them.

The Biggest Mistake Authors are Making

I am not going to lie (I am physically incapable). I have succumbed to the “easy button” on a few occasions and used AI to help me draft a blog or two in the past to help me get content out there that I had already created in a video or class. I even use it still to help me write up video descriptions for our podcast, because it is just easier, and who really reads that crap anyway (it’s just to get the algorithm to point people in the right direction)? But, I have learned my lesson… the hard way. As an editor, I am seeing more and more manuscripts cross my desk that are written by AI, and the authors expect me to clean them up. That is a tedious racket. It is exceptionally difficult when I have never worked with the author before and can’t discern their voice from the AI. I am often left empty, alone, and in the fetal position. In all seriousness, it is a lot of work that costs a lot of extra money and time for the author.

The worst mistake isn’t that they are using AI, it’s that they are trying to prompt AI to stop sounding like AI. It absolutely removes all sense of “human” from a manuscript. So, if you are a writer who tries this method of “cleaning up the AI,” STOP IT! It doesn’t work. I have published journals cited in my “tool” that will prove how little that actually works.

And before you hire an editor, you will need to do this revision. If you don’t, you’ll end up paying more, getting less clarity, and running the risk of your voice being even more diluted. Also, be sure you vet your editor well, and make sure they aren’t using shortcut AI tools that “revise,” “rewrite,” or “improve” your manuscript. No, these aren’t grammar checkers and spell checkers; they are much more invasive. Those tools should not be used by a professional editor.

Common AI Vibey Tics

Some of the most common giveaways that scream, “AI was used” include:

• AI Vibe language: “This chapter delves into the intricate tapestry…”
• Contrast templates: “It’s not a tool—it’s a revolution.”
• Polished emptiness: “This moment marked a pivotal shift.”
• Rhythm that Never Breaks: Paragraphs that read like a metronome.
• Over-Explained Everything: AI loves to clarify what doesn’t need clarifying.

The Fix – No BS

Inside the full tool (yes, it’s free. I am not a monster), I walk you through a 4-Part Systematic Approach for removing the AI voice from your writing. No bull, it is hard work.

I will give you a detailed list of AI traits and tics to watch for and then I will guide you through the following steps:

1. Reanchor your writing.
2. Kill Templates
3. Restore Your Voice
4. Run a Final AI-specific Pass

So if you are serious about protecting your voice and your work,
this is good place to start.

Download: “Cleaning AI From Your Prose”

You’ll Get:

• A big list of AI traits with examples and fixes
• A Step-by-Step Editing Workflow
• A Practical Author Checklist

My Final Thoughts (And I Mean This)

AI isn’t the enemy. In a lot of ways, it is helping us do things much more efficiently and thoroughly than before. But there is an enemy, it’s lazy writing.

AI is making everyone think they are a writer, but it isn’t. AI is making everything sound the same. If you want to stand out, have your work hold up, and have readers trust you, then you have to do the work. It starts with revision.

It starts with you… your voice. Your story matters, and you should be the one to tell it.