10 Ways to Make Your ChatGPT Writing Sound Human (With Examples)
We live in a world where AI can write emails, draft blog posts, and even write full-blown books. At first, it feels like having a superpower, but there's a catch—AI writing can sometimes sound, well, robotic.
If you don’t do something to “humanize” your content, let’s just say people have already gotten good at spotting what was written by ChatGPT and what wasn’t. So, how do we make our AI-generated text sound human? Follow these 10 Tips and you’re set.
1. Start with a Bang
First impressions matter. A strong opening sets the tone for the rest of your message. You wouldn’t start a conversation with a monotone “Hello, I am here to talk about a subject.” However, you’ll find that AI intros are often bland and repetitive unless you do something about it.
Instead, kick things off with a question, an interesting fact, or a relatable story. For example, “We live in a world where AI can write emails, draft blog posts, and even write full-blown books.” See? Instant engagement.
2. Understand Your Audience
Imagine you’re at a party. Would you talk to your boss the same way you talk to your best friend? Probably not. The key to making your ChatGPT writing sound human is knowing who you're talking to.
On LinkedIn, your audience is likely professionals looking for value, relevance, and a sprinkle of personality. Tailor your prompts to guide ChatGPT in generating responses that fit the room—professional but approachable.
3. Craft Clear and Specific Prompts
The quality of your output depends entirely on the quality of your input. When crafting prompts for ChatGPT, be clear and specific. The more specific and sophisticated your prompting is, the more unique the final product will be.
For example, instead of asking, “Write about AI in business,” try, “Write a LinkedIn post about how AI can improve productivity in small businesses with a friendly, conversational tone.” Specificity helps ChatGPT understand the context and tone you’re aiming for.
4. Feed ChatGPT examples of your writing
Humans learn by example, and so does AI. Giving ChatGPT writing samples, aka datapoints, helps it understand your voice and communication style. This will allow it to write in a way that’s similar to the “real” you. You can also feed it specific examples to capture a specific tone.
For example, if you want a conversational tone, you might say, “Write a blog post about remote work benefits. Here’s an example of the tone: ‘Remote work has changed the game for many of us, offering flexibility and a better work-life balance.’” Examples help ChatGPT mimic the style you’re looking for.
5. Ask for Storytelling
People love stories. They’re wired for them. When you want ChatGPT to incorporate anecdotes or case studies, ask explicitly. “Share a story about a small business that successfully implemented AI to improve customer service.” Or share a real story that happened to you with the AI and ask it to weave it into the narrative. This encourages the AI to generate engaging and relatable content that goes beyond dry facts.
6. Set the Tone with Contextual Prompts
Imagine you’re chatting with a friend over coffee. Keep your prompts conversational and provide context. For example, “Imagine you’re explaining the benefits of AI to a colleague over coffee. Write a LinkedIn post in that tone.” This approach helps ChatGPT generate text that feels more natural and less robotic.
7. Encourage Variety in Sentence Structure
Monotony is the enemy of engaging writing. When giving instructions, encourage variety. “Write a LinkedIn post about AI in healthcare. Use a mix of short and long sentences to keep it engaging.” This type of prompt helps ChatGPT produce content that mimics natural speech patterns and keeps your reader’s attention.
8. Use Your Vision
If you want your content to sound “authentic”, think of AI is a tool that can help bring your vision to life. Don’t try to trick people into thinking of generic ChatGPT content as your creative genius. People can smell this level of inauthenticity instantly, and it can be damaging to you and your business’ reputation.
The AI is your assistant, but it needs real guidance. Give it instructions on everything from tone and structure to word count. Prompt and reprompt over and over again until you feel like it’s really yours - and something only you could create.
9. Edit and Refine Outputs
Manual edits are always required. Remove any jargon, unnecessary words, and complex sentences. Aim for simplicity without sacrificing depth. Replace the generic sounding content with sentences, or even paragraphs written in your own words. This ensures the final output will be clear to understand, and also make it clear that it was you that worked on it.
10. Don’t Stop Writing Without AI
To add to the previous point, as more people use ChatGPT and other AI tools to write their content, a lot of it will start to sound the same. It’s already happening now. So you can standout by making it a point to write content without any AI assistance. This helps keep your writing skills sharp, is a great mental exercise, and allows you to “remember” your own voice.
As more people start to become over reliant on ChatGPT, you’ll be able to stand out from the crowd by being someone who doesn’t need to use AI to express themselves.