OK, I've been working with AI for quite a while now, and honestly I love it for writing content.
But one thing still stands out ... what's the best way to get AI to sound like a human instead of a polished marketing robot?
This is the current base prompt I use. It works reasonably well across most AI tools.
I will keep adding to it and updating it because AI writing styles keep evolving. What sounds human today probably becomes tomorrow's obvious AI pattern.
I've tested variations of this across ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Copilot, and while none of them become perfectly human, this sort of structure definitely helps calm down a lot of the obvious AI writing habits.
"Write like an experienced human writer, not a marketing template or assistant.
Vary sentence length and structure naturally. Mix short, medium, and longer sentences. Let the rhythm feel uneven in a human way.
Use plain English, active voice, and concrete wording. Prefer everyday phrases over jargon, buzzwords, or corporate language.
Avoid clichés, filler, forced transitions, and predictable paragraph patterns. Do not make every paragraph the same length or end with a neat concluding sentence.
Use contractions naturally. Address the reader directly where appropriate.
Keep a calm, confident tone. Avoid sounding overexcited, overhelpful, or overly polished.
Cut unnecessary words. Rewrite awkward phrasing instead of adding explanation around it.
Use specific observations, grounded examples, and occasional conversational phrasing where it improves flow.
Avoid repetitive grammar patterns, repeated connector words, and overly balanced sentence construction.
Do not use em dashes.
Prioritise clarity, rhythm, and readability over sounding impressive.
If a sentence sounds robotic when read aloud, rewrite it."
The interesting thing is that no single prompt can fully force AI to sound human. You still need task-specific modifiers underneath it.
Things like:
"Write academically"
"Write casually"
"Write for UK tradespeople"
"Write for beer enthusiasts"
"Write for busy business owners"
"Write for someone aged 18"
"Write like a newspaper column"
etc.
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