anti-slop writing first pass

A developer has compiled a definitive deny-list of AI writing tells for OpenTrawl's landing-page copy, aiming to produce copy that reads like a sharp human wrote it. The list includes classic AI vocabulary, 2026-era tells, significance-inflation phrases, and promotional language, with a focus on density and formulaic structure as the strongest signal.

| AI Writing Tells — Definitive Deny-List as of August 2026 | | | Guard file for OpenTrawl landing-page copy. Every future draft is checked against this list. | | | The goal: copy that reads like a sharp human wrote it — plain, specific, opinionated, gov.uk-style. | | | If a phrase, pattern, or rhythm below appears in a draft, rewrite it. Clusters of these are the tell; | | | one stray word is not. The strongest single signal is density + formulaic structure , not any one word. | | | Confirmed project-specific tells from the human owner — treat as hard bans : | | | - Overcompressed fragment stacking presented as punchy copy: "Your apps, in SQLite, on your disk. Your AI searches them. No cloud, no accounts." | | | - Anthropomorphic punchline: "The archive already knew." | | | - Mechanical phrasing: "copies your apps into local archives" | | | - Sensationalist compression in general; noise captions; "X. Y. Z." rhythm | | | --- | | | 1. Phrase deny-list exact words/phrases, grouped | | | 1a. The classic "AI vocabulary" core 2023–2025 era; still flagged everywhere | | | delve / delved / delving · tapestry abstract: "rich tapestry of" · testament "a testament to" · | | | underscore / underscoring · pivotal · landscape abstract: "the evolving landscape of" · | | | intricate / intricacies · meticulous / meticulously · interplay · vibrant · crucial · | | | enduring "enduring legacy" · bolster / bolstered · garner / garnered · showcase / showcasing · | | | foster / fostering · enhance / enhanced · additionally sentence-initial · furthermore · moreover · | | | notably · comprehensive · multifaceted · nuanced "nuanced understanding" · paradigm · | | | transformative · leverage / leveraging · synergy · holistic · robust · streamline · | | | utilize / utilizing · facilitate · elucidate / illuminate · encompassing · spearhead · | | | invaluable · groundbreaking · cutting-edge · catalyze / catalyst · cornerstone · | | | reimagine / reimagining · empower / empowering · harness / harnessing · navigate abstract · | | | realm · poised · myriad · embark / embarking · grapple / grappling · commendable · noteworthy · | | | align with · boasts = has · features = has · offers = has · serves as = is · stands as = is | | | 1b. The 2026-era tells Forbes/Jodie Cook, May 2026 — the current crop | | | quietly "quietly building", "quietly dominating", "quietly transforming" · shift "a shift in thinking", | | | "the shift towards" · matters "this matters because", "what matters here" · shape "shapes the future", | | | "shapes how we think" · land "a message lands" · actually as filler intensifier · | | | real "real growth", "real value", "real impact" · earn "earn the right to", "earn trust" · | | | the work "do the work", "trust the work" · hold "hold space", "hold the line" · | | | pull "the pull of" · compound "decisions compound" · signal "send the signal" · | | | built different / built for the bold / built to last | | | 1c. Significance-inflation phrases Wikipedia's 1 content tell | | | marking a pivotal moment · represents a significant shift · part of a broader movement · | | | solidify its role as a regional hub · generated debate · shaped emerging policy discussions · | | | prompted broader reflection · raising philosophical questions · highlights the enduring legacy · | | | the transformative power of · contributes to the broader history · reflects the influence of · | | | setting the stage for · key turning point · evolving landscape · focal point · indelible mark · | | | deeply rooted · stands/serves as a testament · plays a vital/significant/crucial/pivotal/key role · | | | underscores/highlights its importance · reflects broader trends · symbolizing its ongoing/enduring/lasting | | | 1d. Promotional / travel-brochure language | | | nestled in/within · in the heart of · breathtaking · must-visit · stunning · renowned · world-class · | | | state-of-the-art · seamless · game-changing · unparalleled · rich cultural heritage · natural beauty · | | | commitment to excellence · boasts a · vibrant · profound · exemplifies · diverse array · gateway to · | | | captivates residents and visitors alike · acts as the gateway to | | | 1e. Hedging stacks and weasel words | | | could potentially · might possibly · could possibly · perhaps potentially · may potentially · | | | it could be argued · one could argue · it is possible that · some might say · it depends · | | | there's no one-size-fits-all answer · results may vary · experts argue · observers have cited · | | | industry reports · researchers and conservationists · several sources/publications when one is cited · | | | widely interpreted as · is described in scholarship as · maintains an active social media presence | | | 1f. Filler / throat-clearing phrases | | | in order to · due to the fact that · at this point in time · in the event that · has the ability to · | | | it is important to note that · it is worth noting that · it should be noted that · | | | in today's rapidly evolving world/landscape/era · at the end of the day · when it comes to · | | | the fact of the matter is · in terms of · for the purpose of · in light of the fact that · | | | in the realm of · at its core · first and foremost · last but not least · needless to say · | | | in the wake of · as we move forward · going forward | | | 1g. Chatbot conversational filler chat artifacts, not copy | | | I hope this helps · Let me know if you'd like... · Would you like me to... · Feel free to... · | | | Don't hesitate to... · Happy to help · Here is an overview/summary/breakdown · Of course · | | | Certainly · Absolutely · I'd be happy to... · Is there anything else... · Great question · | | | Excellent point · You're absolutely right · As an AI language model... · I'm sorry, but... | | | 1h. Generic conclusion / future-facing optimism | | | the future looks bright · exciting times lie ahead · continue this journey · journey toward excellence · | | | step in the right direction · only time will tell · the possibilities are endless · poised for growth · | | | watch this space · the future of thing · take your thing to the next level · don't get left behind · | | | the choice is yours · take control of your thing | | | 1i. Landing-page / dev-tool marketing slop Sailop 40-banned list, 2026 | | | effortlessly · seamlessly · streamline · unlock · empower · transform · revolutionize · supercharge · | | | powerful · robust · cutting-edge · next-generation · innovative · comprehensive · game-changing · | | | world-class · state-of-the-art · blazingly fast · AI-powered · AI-native · cloud-native · | | | enterprise-grade · production-ready · built for the modern web · end-to-end · welcome to our platform · | | | the future of thing · built for vague audience · the all-in-one thing · trusted by leading companies · | | | used by thousands of developers · the 1 thing for audience · get started · sign up free · | | | learn more · join us | | | 1j. Announcement / setup phrases that promise more than they deliver | | | Here's the kicker. · The best part? · But here's the thing. · Honestly? · I'm going to state this as clearly as possible · | | | Here's the part most people miss · Here's the breakdown · Let's dive in · Let's break this down · | | | Without further ado · As mentioned above · As we've seen · In conclusion · To sum up · To summarize · | | | In summary · Overall | | | 1k. Therapist-mode / unsolicited validation 2026 tell | | | You're not imagining it · You're not alone · You're not broken · Do you want to sit with that for a while? · | | | Are you ready to go deeper? · It's okay to feel this way | | | 1l. LLM-safe truths true statements that teach nothing | | | Consistency is important. · Building relationships takes time. · Success requires hard work. · | | | Communication is key. · The journey matters more than the destination. | | | 1m. Knowledge-cutoff / source-gap disclaimers | | | as of my last knowledge update · up to my last training update · while specific details are limited/scarce in the available sources · | | | not widely documented/disclosed · based on available information · the subject likely... · | | | maintains a low profile · keeps personal details private | | | --- | | | 2. Sentence-pattern deny-list the structures | | | 2a. Negative parallelism / contrast reframe — THE 1 tell Atlantic, Jul 2026; Forbes, May 2026 | | | The most famous AI writing tic. Survives every prompt fix. Pangram estimates "Not just X but Y" | | | appears ~3x more often in AI text than human text. Barron's found it quadrupled in corporate | | | communications 2023–2025. Variants: | | | - "It's not X; it's Y." / "It's not about X, it's about Y." | | | - "This isn't a tactics problem, it's a positioning problem." | | | - "Not just X, but also Y." / "not only X but Y" | | | - "No A, no B, just C." "No bag, no things, no armor, just me." | | | - "X rather than Y." / "not X, but Y" | | | - "The target was never a man. The target was the truth." | | | - "It's far more than X. Focus on Y." | | | Examples: | | | - "It's not just a win for the private bank—it's a win for the entire enterprise." | | | - "This isn't about speed; it's about trust." | | | - "No cloud, no accounts, no setup. Just your data, on your disk." ← project-adjacent, banned | | | Human alternative: delete the dismissed half. Say only the thing you mean. | | | - AI: "This isn't a storage tool; it's a memory." | | | - Human: "It stores your data locally. That's the whole pitch." | | | 2b. Tricolon / rule of three everywhere | | | "adjective, adjective, adjective" and "phrase, phrase, and phrase" used to make thin analysis | | | look complete. AI uses triads constantly; humans use them once, deliberately. | | | Examples: | | | - "Faster, smarter, better." / "Seamless, secure, scalable." | | | - "Your data. Your rules. Your archive." | | | - "Built for speed, built for scale, built for you." | | | Human alternative: use one precise item, or two, or recast. Vary list lengths. | | | - AI: "Private, portable, powerful." | | | - Human: "Private by design. Portable by default." | | | 2c. Staccato fragment stacking "X. Y. Z." rhythm — CONFIRMED PROJECT TELL | | | Short fragments stacked as fake punch. The human owner flagged: "Your apps, in SQLite, on your disk. | | | Your AI searches them. No cloud, no accounts." This is the AI "punchy" default: every sentence a | | | sentence fragment, all same length, all same rhythm, zero connective tissue. | | | Examples: | | | - "Your apps, in SQLite, on your disk. Your AI searches them. No cloud, no accounts." | | | - "No setup. No sync. No servers. Just works." | | | - "Private. Local. Yours." | | | Human alternative: vary the rhythm. Let one sentence run. Use a fragment only where it lands hardest. | | | - AI: "Local. Private. Yours." | | | - Human: "Everything stays on your disk. There is no cloud account to lose, and nothing to sync." | | | 2d. Colon-heavy headline pattern "X: why Y matters" | | | Every headline/heading as "Noun phrase: claim about it." AI defaults to this for all headers. | | | Examples: | | | - "SQLite: why local storage matters" | | | - "Privacy: the case for keeping data on-device" | | | - "OpenTrawl: the archive that knows" | | | Human alternative: vary heading shapes. Some are questions, some are plain statements, some are | | | fragments, some are full sentences. Never all colons. | | | - AI: "Archives: why they matter" | | | - Human: "What an archive is for" / "Archives, and why you'd want one" | | | 2e. Anthropomorphic punchline — CONFIRMED PROJECT TELL | | | Giving the product/archive/software a knowing, human-like consciousness as a closer. | | | "The archive already knew." The software "remembers", "understands", "knows", "sees". | | | Examples: | | | - "The archive already knew." | | | - "Your data remembers what you forgot." | | | - "The search engine understands what you meant." | | | Human alternative: state what the software actually does, plainly. | | | - AI: "The archive already knew." | | | - Human: "Search runs against your local copy, so it finds what you actually saved." | | | 2f. Superficial trailing "-ing" analysis | | | A present-participle clause bolted to the end of a sentence to editorialize. | | | Examples: | | | - "...creating a lively community within its borders." | | | - "...further enhancing its significance as a dynamic hub of activity and culture." | | | - "...reflecting its continued relevance in the regional and national transportation landscape." | | | - "...symbolizing the region's commitment to innovation." | | | - "...cementing its status as..." / "...ensuring..." / "...fostering..." | | | Human alternative: delete the trailing clause. The sentence stands without it. If the point is real, | | | make it its own plain sentence with attribution. | | | 2g. "Despite X, Y faces challenges... but the future is bright" formula | | | The rigid "Challenges / Future Prospects" outline closer. | | | Examples: | | | - "Despite its success, the Panama Canal faces challenges, including... Future investments could enhance the canal's efficiency." | | | - "Despite their promising applications, pyroelectric materials face several challenges... positioning them as critical components for sustainable energy solutions." | | | Human alternative: keep any concrete, sourced challenge as plain prose where it belongs. Delete speculation about the future. | | | 2h. Canned notability / media-coverage hammering | | | "featured in Vogue, Wired, and other media" · "profiled in multiple high-quality, independent, and widely-read outlets" · | | | "these sources provide significant, substantial, secondary coverage" · "maintains an active social media presence" | | | Human alternative: state facts, not notability arguments. | | | 2i. Rhetorical question immediately answered | | | "Have you ever wondered...?" → answer. "What is X?" → definition. "Imagine a world where..." → pitch. | | | Human alternative: start with the substance. | | | 2j. The sandwich conclusion restate intro + generic optimism + CTA | | | "As we've seen... In conclusion... The future is bright... So next time you topic , remember..." | | | Human alternative: end on a strong, specific thought. Give the reader something new, not a summary. | | | --- | | | 3. Rhythm / structure tells | | | 3a. Metronomic sentence length | | | Every sentence 15–25 words, same beat. Read aloud: da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM. Humans mix aggressively: | | | one word, then a long winding sentence, then a fragment. | | | Fix: vary sentence length dramatically; start sentences with And/But/So; use fragments on purpose. | | | 3b. Uniform paragraph length | | | Every paragraph 3–5 sentences, every section roughly the same length. AI gives every point equal | | | weight. Humans go deep on what matters and skip the rest. | | | Fix: one paragraph may be a single sentence; the next may be eight. Sections of 50 words and 300 words. | | | 3c. Perfectly parallel bullet lists | | | Every bullet the same grammatical shape, same length, same structure. AI's signature. | | | Fix: asymmetric lists — some items one word, some a sentence. If you wouldn't bullet it to a friend, don't bullet it here. | | | 3d. Inline-header vertical lists " Thing: description" | | | - Conflict of Interest: ... 1. Historical Context: ... — the AI list format. | | | Fix: prose where the list isn't needed; clean lists without bolded inline headers otherwise. | | | 3e. Em-dash density | | | AI especially Claude-family uses em dashes far more than non-professional human writing, in places | | | humans would use commas, parentheses, colons, or full stops. A July 2026 study: of contemporary | | | models, only Claude used em dashes more than professional writers. OpenAI famously struggled for | | | years to train the em dash out of ChatGPT. | | | Fix: replace most with commas/parentheses/colons/full stops. Keep a few — zeroing them out is its own tell. | | | 3f. Boldface overuse | | | Bolding every instance of a chosen term; "key takeaways" bolding scattered through paragraphs. | | | Fix: bold sparingly, for actual emphasis only. | | | 3g. Title-case headings everywhere | | | "Impact Of Technology And Digitalization" style. Fix: sentence case. | | | 3h. Excessive internal coherence | | | "Excessive internal coherence reveals the machine behind the words" Forbes, Feb 2026 . AI references | | | its own earlier points too neatly, loops back to the intro's framing, weaves threads too perfectly. | | | Humans leave threads hanging, forget what they said, contradict themselves slightly. | | | Fix: leave some loose ends. | | | 3i. Too clean to be human | | | Every detail serves the argument; every example fits perfectly; no accidental details, throwaway | | | numbers, or oddly specific but unimportant facts. Fix: add some irrelevant specifics. Real life has loose ends. | | | 3j. Missing emotional spikes | | | AI maintains a neutral emotional temperature even when the topic demands a stance. Fix: get annoyed, | | | get excited, take a position that might alienate someone. | | | 3k. Faux balance without consequence | | | Gestures at "both sides" then proceeds exactly as planned; nothing is weighed, nothing is traded off. | | | Fix: if you acknowledge a counterargument, actually engage it or cut it. | | | 3l. Arguments that teleport | | | Mid-paragraph the logic jumps; one sentence makes a point, the next states a conclusion without | | | showing how it was reached. Fix: read each paragraph asking "does this sentence follow from the last?" | | | 3m. Near-miss metaphors | | | Comparisons that sound clever but don't map "tuning a guitar" for a business strategy . Fix: if a | | | metaphor misses even slightly, remove it entirely. | | | 3n. Correct words in wrong contexts | | | Formal verbs in casual contexts; slightly clinical word choices in warm messages; grammatically | | | perfect but textbook-learned. Fix: use the word you'd actually say. | | | 3o. Curly quotes/apostrophes ChatGPT/DeepSeek habit | | | Curly " " ' ' where the document otherwise uses straight marks, or inconsistent mixing. | | | Fix: normalize to straight marks for plain text. Gemini and Claude typically don't do this. | | | 3p. Emoji as formatting older models; still seen in comments/microcopy | | | 🧠 🚨 🔭 in front of headings/bullets; "👉 Drop me a message". Fix: none in product copy. | | | 3q. Thematic breaks before headings ---- and skipped heading levels | | | Markdown habits. Fix: proper heading levels, no rules before headings. | | | --- | | | 4. Model-specific sections | | | 4a. GPT-series tells GPT-4 / 4o / 5 era | | | - Structural predictability : numbered lists, consistent headings, step-by-step organization; every | | | list item grammatically identical. | | | - Formulaic openers : restating the question "Certainly Here is a comprehensive guide to..." , | | | "Let's explore" as a section opener. | | | - Formulaic conclusions : restate main points, note the topic is nuanced, encourage further research. | | | - Era vocabulary Wikipedia's breakdown : | | | - GPT-4 2023–mid-2024 : additionally, boasts, bolstered, crucial, delve, emphasizing, enduring, | | | garner, intricate/intricacies, interplay, key, landscape, meticulous/meticulously, pivotal, | | | underscore, tapestry, testament, valuable, vibrant | | | - GPT-4o mid-2024–mid-2025 : align with, bolstered, crucial, emphasizing, enhance, enduring, | | | fostering, highlighting, pivotal, showcasing, underscore, vibrant | | | - GPT-5 mid-2025+ : emphasizing, enhance, highlighting, showcasing + canned notability claims | | | - Curly quotes/apostrophes ChatGPT habit . | | | - The em-dash struggle : OpenAI spent years trying to train the em dash out; GPT output historically | | | em-dash-heavy, now less than Claude but still formulaic in placement. | | | - Sycophancy : top models affirm users' ideas ~49% more than humans Stanford/CMU, Mar 2026 ; | | | "Great question ", "You're absolutely right ", "I'd be happy to...". | | | - Chat artifacts : :contentReference oaicite:0 {index=0} , oai citation , turn0search0 , +1 after sentences. | | | 4b. Claude-series tells Claude 3/4 era; Fable inherits these | | | - Over-qualification and meta-commentary : "It's worth noting that", "This is a nuanced area", | | | "The answer depends on context" — useful qualifications that become obvious patterns every few paragraphs. | | | - Hedging before claiming : Claude hedges before making the claim at all; human writers make claims | | | and defend them. | | | - Em-dash overuse : the July 2026 study found Claude the only contemporary model using em dashes | | | more than professional writers. "This matters — and here's why." | | | - Longer, more syntactically complex sentences than average human writing. | | | - Earnest, measured tone : acknowledges limitations and counterarguments even when unnecessary; | | | reads intellectually cautious rather than authoritative. | | | - "I appreciate" openers and polite framing in conversational output. | | | - Curly quotes : Gemini and Claude typically do NOT use curly quotes so straight quotes are not a | | | Claude tell . | | | 4c. Fable-series tells Anthropic's Fable 5, June 2026 — public info is THIN | | | What we found: | | | - Fable 5 is Anthropic's flagship released June 9, 2026; "Claude Fable 5" and "Claude Mythos 5"; | | | API name claude-fable-5 . It is the successor to Claude Opus, positioned for long-horizon reasoning | | | and high-fidelity creative writing. | | | - No public "Fable-isms" catalog exists yet as of August 2026 — the model is ~2 months old and the | | | discourse is about its capabilities large context window, "adaptive thinking", "voice locking" , | | | not its tells. | | | - Fable inherits Claude-family tendencies same lineage : hedging, meta-commentary "worth noting" , | | | em-dash overuse, over-qualification. Treat the Claude list as the Fable baseline. | | | - "Voice locking" means Fable can be steered to mimic a given style from samples — so its tells are | | | less consistent than older models when prompted with style examples. Cold output still defaults to | | | Claude-family patterns. | | | - Watch for : the same negative-parallelism and tricolon structures as every other model Pangram | | | confirms all major chatbots rely on them , plus Anthropic's characteristic earnestness. | | | - Recommendation: keep the Claude list as the Fable deny-list until public Fable-specific tells emerge; | | | re-check quarterly. | | | --- | | | 5. What a human writes instead per major pattern | | | | AI pattern | Human alternative plain, specific, gov.uk-style | | | | |---|---| | | | | Negative parallelism: "It's not just a tool, it's a memory." | "It stores your data locally. That's the whole pitch." | | | | | Tricolon: "Faster, smarter, better." | "It's fast. The rest you can judge for yourself." | | | | | Staccato stacking: "Local. Private. Yours." | "Everything stays on your disk. There is no cloud account to lose, and nothing to sync." | | | | | Colon headline: "SQLite: why local storage matters" | "What an archive is for" | | | | | Anthropomorphic punchline: "The archive already knew." | "Search runs against your local copy, so it finds what you actually saved." | | | | | Significance inflation: "marking a pivotal moment in the evolution of regional statistics" | "The institute was established in 1989 to collect and publish regional statistics." | | | | | Trailing -ing analysis: "...reflecting its continued relevance in the transportation landscape." | Delete the clause. The sentence stands without it. | | | | | "Seamlessly unlock the power of AI to effortlessly transform your workflow." | "Catch the 40 phrases that mark your copy as AI-written, with a one-line replacement for each." | | | | | "Effortlessly streamline your workflow" | "No more reading 200-line PR diffs." | | | | | "Seamlessly integrates with your CI" | "Plugs into your CI as a single GitHub Action." | | | | | "Unlock 50 design templates" | "Get 50 design templates." | | | | | "Empowers your team to ship" | "Ship a landing page without a designer." | | | | | "Trusted by leading companies" | "Used at Stripe to gate the design-system PR." | | | | | "Get started" | "Install via npm." / "Scan my codebase." | | | | | "The future looks bright" | Cut it. End on a specific thought. | | | | | "Great question " | Start with the substance. | | | | | "In today's fast-paced world" | Cut it. Start with the fact. | | | | | "It's worth noting that..." | Cut it. Note the thing. | | | | | "Consistency is important." | "Consistency is important" → cut, or sharpen: "Ship every Friday, or don't ship at all." | | | | | "Here's the kicker." | Delete the fanfare; let the substance speak. | | | | | "Do the work." | "Write the copy. Then cut half of it." | | | | The universal rule Sailop : replace every adjective with a number, every adverb with a comparison, | | | every vague verb with a concrete one. The rewrite is usually shorter and always clearer. Write copy | | | you would defend in a pitch meeting — AI copy is what survives committee review because nobody | | | disagrees with it. | | | --- | | | 6. Sources | | | Primary field guides: | | | 1. Wikipedia: "Signs of AI writing" WikiProject AI Cleanup field guide; era vocab, negative parallelisms, | | | rule of three, em-dash, boldface, inline-header lists, promotional language, challenges-formula . | | | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Signs of AI writing | | | 2. The Atlantic, Will Oremus: "The Most Famous AI Writing Tic Is Also the Most Mysterious" Jul 2026 — | | | negative parallelism as the 1 tell; Pangram 3x statistic; Barron's 4x statistic. | | | https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/2026/07/ai-chatbot-writing-tic-negative-parallelism/687892/ | | | 3. The Atlantic, Eve Fairbanks: "The Biggest Tell That Something Was Written by AI" May 2026 — | | | canned perfection, uneditable AI prose, sycophancy Stanford/CMU 49% study , Max Planck word-leak study. | | | https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/2026/05/how-to-tell-ai-writing/687345/ | | | 4. Forbes, Jodie Cook: "15 New Giveaway Signs Of AI Writing May 2026 Update " — the 2026 word crop | | | quietly, shift, matters, shape, land, actually, real, earn, the work, hold, pull, compound, signal, | | | built different + contrast reframes as the surviving 1. | | | https://www.forbes.com/sites/jodiecook/2026/05/21/15-new-giveaway-signs-of-ai-writing-may-2026-update/ | | | 5. Forbes, Jodie Cook: "The 15 New Giveaway Signs Of AI-Generated Content In February 2026 " — | | | announcing-the-good-part, LLM-safe truths, "Honestly?", quiet, therapist mode, marching sentences, | | | near-miss metaphors, teleporting arguments, missing emotional spikes, faux balance, too-tidy internal | | | references, too-clean-to-be-human. | | | https://www.forbes.com/sites/jodiecook/2026/02/03/the-15-new-giveaway-signs-of-ai-generated-content-in-february-2026/ | | | 6. Sailop: "40 Banned Phrases That Mark Your Copy as AI-Generated with Replacements " Apr 2026 — | | | landing-page-specific deny-list with replacements and the "tells travel in packs" rule. | | | https://www.sailop.com/blog/banned-phrases-40-words-mark-copy-ai-generated | | | 7. Ars Technica, Benj Edwards: "Wikipedia volunteers spent years cataloging AI tells. Now there's a | | | plugin to avoid them." Jan 2026 — the Humanizer plugin; before/after example. | | | https://arstechnica.com/ai/2026/01/new-ai-plugin-uses-wikipedias-ai-writing-detection-rules-to-help-it-sound-human/ | | | 8. texttoolsai.app: "How ChatGPT and Claude Writing Differs — and How to Humanize Each" May 2026 — | | | GPT vs Claude tells. | | | https://www.texttoolsai.app/blog/chatgpt-vs-claude-writing-quality | | | 9. The Atlantic: "Chatbots Are Spewing Out All the Worst Clichés" Feb 2023 — cliché obsession. | | | https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2023/02/ai-chatbots-cliche-writing/673143/ | | | 10. MIT Technology Review: "Why detecting AI-generated text is so difficult" Feb 2023 . | | | https://www.technologyreview.com/2023/02/07/1067928/why-detecting-ai-generated-text-is-so-difficult-and-what-to-do-about-it/ | | | 11. The Guardian: "Spam, junk ... slop?" May 2024 — the slop term. | | | https://www.theguardian.com/technology/article/2024/may/19/spam-junk-slop-the-latest-wave-of-ai-behind-the-zombie-internet | | | 12. NYMag/Intelligencer, Max Read: "Drowning in Slop" Sep 2024 . | | | https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/ai-generated-content-internet-online-slop-spam.html | | | 13. Wikipedia: "AI slop". | | | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AI slop | | | 14. Humanizer skill files open-source, distilled from the Wikipedia guide : | | | brandonwise/humanizer 29 patterns, weighted , WhimseyAI/humanizer-skill, Intern4711/Better Humanizer. | | | 15. Anthropic: "Claude Fable" product page + platform docs Fable 5 / Mythos 5, Jun 2026 ; Bilzit and | | | NovelMage Fable-5 reviews voice locking, adaptive thinking — Fable context. | | | https://www.anthropic.com/claude/fable | | | Note on method: parallel.ai search was rate-limited for this session; sources were gathered via direct | | | fetch, Google News RSS, Wayback CDX, and DuckDuckGo-through-reader. Fable-specific tells are thin | | | publicly as of Aug 2026 — the Claude list is the best available proxy, per section 4c. |