If you answer yes, I won’t be surprised. I think my writing sounds like AI, and I know why. It’s not to do with em dashes, though I use them enough that I wrote about open vs closed dashes in an article on Medium in 2019.

It’s to do with my reading. I am a mimic of the authors I read.

I do not know how to avoid AI writing except to stop reading online, but that’s not going to happen. It seems like a majority of business articles, scripted videos, event descriptions, job postings, marketing pitches, and many personal social posts use AI in one way or another.

“But here’s the thing,” even where a human has taken pains to edit out emojis and em dashes or has fully rewritten an AI draft, the AI structure remains under the writing: short sentences creating a distinct cadence; trite transitional phrases; comparisons; conclusions; subheadings, and cheery encouragements. Others have written about the tells in AI composition and I encourage you to learn to recognise them.

The reason my writing sounds like AI is that “I write what I read.”

Although it’s not a conscious effort, I catch myself inserting the vocabulary and cadence of a recently-read author into my own writing. Professionally, this is a useful skill, as the ability to mimic helps me stay in tune with the corporate voice when I am writing for clients.

So these days, my writing takes on an AI voice even when I am not using AI tools at all. Even in handwritten notes! It’s difficult to stop.

I don’t like it.

My solution, now that I recognise the problem, is to re-read books from authors whose voices I admire. When my writing reminds you of Vonnegut, Stephenson, Austen, Mieville, or Robbins, then my solution has been a success.