Stop writing like a robot: ban these AI words and phrases

61 snips

Mar 29, 2026

Neo Applin, Head of Inventium AI who trains organisations in practical AI writing, shows how to keep AI edits sounding human. Short sentences cover banning overused openers and corporate buzzwords. Tips include removing em dashes, using a ninth-grade brief, allowing informal sentence starters, and building a personal banned-words list to preserve your voice.

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ANECDOTE

Host Demonstrates The Very AI Tropes

Amantha jokes about using the 'rule of three' herself and demonstrates the very stylistic devices AI overuses.
She mentions em dashes and the 'it's not about X, it's about Y' ending as examples she recognizes from her own past writing.

ADVICE

Ban Em Dashes By Showing The Character

Ban em dashes by naming them and pasting an example into your prompt, then tell AI which dash to use instead.
Neo found 'don't use em dashes' alone is weak, so include the actual — character and a replacement like - or commas.

ADVICE

Force Mixed Sentence Lengths

Ask AI to use mixed sentence lengths: short for punch, long for detail.
Neo says AI defaults to uniform sentence length, so intentionally request variety to make writing feel human and less robotic.

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Download Inventium.ai's anti-AI slop prompt here: https://amantha-imber.kit.com/d5f746bd3e

You can always tell when something's been written by AI. The LinkedIn post that opens with "in today's fast-paced world." The article that ends with "it's not about X, it's about Y." Technically fine, but somehow hollow. Like it was written by nobody in particular.

The frustrating part is that this can happen even when you're doing the real thinking. You write the ideas, hand it to AI for a cleanup, and it flattens your voice, packs it with em-dashes, and strips out everything that sounded like you.

In this How I AI episode, Neo and I get into the specific instructions you can give AI to keep your writing sounding human, and share some of the most overused AI words and phrases worth banning from your prompts entirely.

Neo and I cover:

Why sounding like AI is a credibility problem, even when you've done the actual thinking and are only using AI to refine and edit your work.
The single most important instruction to give AI when asking it to clean up your writing.
Why em-dashes are so hard to eliminate from AI output, and the specific phrasing (including pasting in the actual dash character) that gives you the best chance of getting rid of them.
Using a ninth-grade reading level as a brief to keep language plain, accessible, and free of jargon.
Why it's fine to let AI start a sentence with "and" or "but" occasionally, and which stiff transition words (like "additionally" and "moreover") to ban outright.
What "corrective antithesis" is, why AI overuses it, and how to cut it down with a simple instruction and example in your prompt.
Amantha's process for building a mega anti-AI slop prompt.
How to build your own personal banned-words list, so AI stops using words that don't sound like you.

Connect with Neo Aplin on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/neoaplin/) and via inventium.ai (https://inventium.ai), where he leads Inventium's AI training and upskilling work with organisations and teams.

My latest book The Health Habit is out now. You can order a copy here: https://www.amantha.com/the-health-habit/

Connect with me on the socials: Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanthaimber)

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If you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work and live, I write a weekly newsletter where I share practical and simple to apply tips to improve your life. You can sign up for that at https://amantha-imber.ck.page/subscribe

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Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.au

Credits: Host: Amantha Imber

Sound Engineer: Martin Imber

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