One of the classic tells of AI-written content is overstatement.
From the “It’s not X, it’s Y” structure to its directive to “sit with that” or its insistence on something being “worth naming.”
Or even its tendency to repeat phrases. Repeatedly. Repetitiously.
Or perhaps the most popular current tell: A paragraph that starts with, “And honestly?”
So, for me, these clichés all land in the bucket of “overstatement.”
It’s an illusion of profundity driven by an absence of real insight.
So one antidote to it, a way to make your content read as human and not AI slop, is to lean on understatement.
Instead of saying something like, “That’s worth sitting with,” you say, “I think that’s interesting.”
Instead of, “It’s not X, it’s Y,” you say, “It’s closer to X than something like Y.”
But won’t that make my content boring? you may wonder.
No, because in a world of same-y slop, standing out is inherently interesting.
And standing out through understatement makes you more interesting than blending in through overstatement.
So take another pass through your content and ask yourself where you’re overstating things.
And understate them instead.
I don’t think that makes you boring, I think that makes you more interesting.
You can test out your understated writing here, using Simon Willison’s LLM Cliché Highlighter
Kelford Inc. are content marketers for expert advisors. If you’re struggling with what to say and where to say it to attract your ideal clients, we’ll show you the way.