I keep seeing a lot of content online, particularly on LinkedIn, that needs to sound more human and less cheesy AI.
Here are some methods to help you to make your AI generated content sound more like you.
Why humanising AI content matters
When you start using AI, it’s quite exciting because all of a sudden it’s generating content quickly. I write for a living and can write pretty fast, but not as fast as AI, so it’s thrilling to be able to turn out content at that pace. On the other side of that, it’s quite generic if you’re not using the right prompts, you’re not editing, and you’re not doing that extra work to really make it your own.
Ask yourself, with the content you’re putting out there, is it missing your soul? Is it missing your human sparkle? We seem to be drowning now in generic content, and this is a great opportunity for you to still use AI but to cut through and make it your own.
BRUTAL FACT: Generic content is often ignored content, which is a worry when you’re trying to connect with people. You want it to get their attention and sustain their attention so that they read to the end.
As much as 90% of online content could be synthetically generated by 2025 or 2026. Also, a major study by the University of Melbourne and KPMG (48,000 respondents across 47 countries) found that 80% of people are using AI daily. We are using it more and more. The fear around it is still there, but people are adopting it at a much faster rate.
Watch the full webinar
If you’d like to see me walk through these content humanising techniques in detail, check out the full webinar recording below where I demonstrate these methods live:
Webinar Slides
Spotting “AI banality”, The clichéd language of AI
I call it “AI banality”, the clichéd words that AI uses over and over again. You can tell straight away when people are using AI to create their content because it’s so obvious. Words like “delve” are so overused, along with “unlock” and “unleash”. If I see the word “unlock” in a heading, I zone out. My eyes glaze over now because I can tell what the rest of it’s going to be like, it’s clearly been written by AI and not edited properly.
I think what’s going to set things apart in the next few years is having that human connection because so much of the content around will be AI generated.
Here are some examples of AI banality to watch out for:
Overused Terms:
- Accelerate
- Amplify
- Boost
- Cutting-edge
- Delve
- Empower
- Revolutionize
- Seamless
- Unleash
- Unlock
Clichéd Phrases:
- “Amplify your success”
- “Discover how to transform…”
- “Elevate your experience”
- “Not only X but also Y”
- “Take your X to the next level”
- “Unleash your potential”
- “Unlock the power of…”
Be aware of these things as they’re real clues when something has been generated by AI. If you’re trying to humanise it, try and avoid these words, particularly if you never used them to begin with.
Finding your AI voice
For AI to understand what you want, you need to provide it with instructions. The prompts are so important to find your unique style.
You can either think about and reflect on what your style is, what makes you you, or what core values you want to get across and weave those into your instructions. Another way is to ask AI to describe your brand voice based on previous conversations or content you’ve shared.
If you have the memory switched on in ChatGPT, try asking it:
“Based on what you remember about our previous conversations, how would you describe my brand voice?”
If you don’t have that memory feature, you can upload some of your social media posts or writing and ask it the same question.
Once it describes your voice, you can then use that description in your prompts by saying something like:
“Using the brand voice attributes you’ve just described, please draft a [specific content piece].”
From robotic to realistic: A practical example
Bad prompt: “Write post about webinar.”
This vague prompt will give you generic content that sounds like anyone (or no one). Generic in = Generic out.
Better prompt: “Using the brand voice attributes that you have just described, please draft a Facebook post about my upcoming webinar on AI agents for small business owners on May 27th at 4:30pm. Please avoid AI cliches and the overuse of emojis. End with a strong call to action.”
Using contextual examples
Another way to humanise your content is by giving AI contextual examples. If you have transcripts of you speaking or videos, that’s a good way to capture your authentic voice.
If you’re trying to humanise content so that it’s more aligned with what your clients and customers say, you can provide the AI with reviews or testimonials (with permission, of course – you can de-identify them). This helps the AI use that language, making your content more humanised and aligned with your target audience.
Try this prompt:
“Please use the following video transcripts and customer reviews for context of my brand voice, and only use the words, language and tone in these examples when generating your output.”
AI as your co-pilot, not your replacement
It’s not about AI doing the job for you. You are collaborating with the AI, you’re working together, and that’s the most effective way to use it if you want it to sound like you. Because ultimately, when you’re using AI, you want it to look like you’re not using it.
Start by brainstorming with AI, using it to generate ideas and then go more deeply. When you’re brainstorming, it’s not just “give me some ideas” and then it gives you one, you go back and forth with the AI like you would with a person. You wouldn’t just land on one idea and stick with it.
Never accept the first response because it’s usually not so good. With this approach, you are leveraging the speed of AI, but you are adding in your layer, your human layer and your perspective to get better ideas.
AI sparks ideas, you add the fire
For example, if you ask AI to generate newsletter themes, you might get generic ideas like:
- Time Management
- AI Tools
- Delegation
- Productivity Hacks
Instead of accepting these, critique them: “Okay, ‘AI tools’ is interesting, but generic.” Then add your refinement: “Let’s focus on one simple AI tool saving 5 hours/week + add a client mini-story.”
Use AI like a colleague to brainstorm with. The creative process is ALWAYS a back and forth exchange of ideas.
Adding emotion and story
AI is not good with emotion. We need to maintain our humanity by overseeing what it does and injecting our feelings and stories into it. The AI is really good at delivering logic, not so much facts and figures (you still need to check those), but it’s very good at summarising or creating structure.
It’s us who delivers empathy – we can share our lived experience. AI doesn’t have a lived experience, and that’s what sets us apart from this technology. That human connection is really what resonates with people and makes them trust you and want to maintain that relationship.
Simple ways to do this include finding points in AI-generated content where you can add a personal anecdote, a personal story, or your own warmth and conversational style.
This is particularly important for websites, blogs, and other web content. I read an article recently that Google is now ranking purely AI generated content at its lowest in terms of search engine optimisation and ranking order. If you don’t inject your humanity into it and humanise that content, if you’re just copy pasting straight AI and using it on your website, it’s going to really tank in terms of ranking.
Using audio features to humanise
One innovative way to check how humanised your content is would be to read it out yourself or have AI read it back to you. ChatGPT has a voice mode that can read text aloud, helping you identify if something sounds natural and conversational or stiff and robotic.
For example, here’s a comparison of AI generated text:
“Our organisation leverages cutting edge methodologies to facilitate optimal outcomes for clients. We utilise proprietary systems to maximise efficiency and deliver superior results across multiple verticals.”
This text is stiff, formal, and full of AI banality. A more humanised version might be:
“We help you achieve real results with smart, proven approaches. Our team has built tools that save you time while delivering the quality you deserve, no matter what industry you’re in.”
Try reading your next piece of AI assisted content aloud, or use an AI voice tool, specifically checking for authenticity. This “ear check” can help you identify robotic phrasing that your eyes might miss when reading.
Note: To see a full demonstration of this audio technique in action, please watch the webinar recording above where I show exactly how ChatGPT’s voice mode can help identify and fix robotic sounding content.
3 Steps to Authentic AI Content
- Prompt with Voice and Context
- Teach AI your brand personality
- Brainstorm and Refine
- Use AI for ideas, add your human insight
- Edit for Emotion
- Inject warmth, story and use an “ear check”
Final thoughts
Remember, AI is great for efficiency, but we still need human authenticity. It can help with parts of tasks in terms of content generation, but it shouldn’t do the whole thing. You still need to be heavily involved, but it does free up a lot of time. Just make sure that you’re putting in that effort to create high-quality content.
The equation for success is simple: AI Efficiency + Human Authenticity = Success
Coming up next
If you’ve found this helpful, I’ve got more sessions coming up:
- May 20th: Workshop on Master Canva’s New AI features (4pm 6pm)
- May 27th: Free webinar on AI Agents: What are they and how can they help your business? (4:30pm AEST)
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