Utilizing AI (and How to Humanize AI Writing)

Artificial intelligence has become more prevalent as the world adapts to its potential. With precise applications in science and medicine and practical uses in businesses being developed daily, AI is becoming a go-to tool for many.

However, while AI is a fascinating technology in many ways, it is still in its infancy in others. Generative AI still has several problems, particularly when creating content that sounds like humans produced. 

If you want to utilize generative AI in written text, you should understand that work may be involved when attempting to humanize AI written text. Thankfully, there are ways that you can do this.

Utilizing an AI Detector (to Determine What Sounds Off)

AI detectors (AI writing detectors or AI content detectors) are tools designed to detect when a text was written partially or entirely by an artificial intelligence tool. AI detectors work based on language models similar to those used in the writing tools they’re trying to detect. 

While AI detectors can successfully detect AI-written text, they also can flag human-written text as AI. This can be problematic for both students and businesses, as they may be falsely accused of creating AI-generated text. Though AI detectors can detect AI content, many still have a ways to go before they can be fully accurate. 

The language model asks if “this is the sort of thing that I (the language model) would have written?” If the answer happens to be yes, it will conclude that AI has likely generated the text.

AI detectors look for two things in text to determine if they have utilized AI.

The first is called perplexity, which measures how unpredictable a text is and how likely it is to perplex (or confuse) the average reader. AI language models work to produce text that has low perplexity, which is often easier to read but more predictable. Creative language choices and typos can result in higher perplexity, making it less likely to be flagged as AI.

The second is burstiness, which measures a sentence’s length and structure variation. Rather than using words, burstiness registers the lengths and levels of sentences. AI often produces sentences with conventional structures, which means they are more likely to be monotonous.

An AI detector seeks to register the choice of words and length of sentences to determine perplexity and burstiness, which will then decide whether artificial intelligence has written a text. Some companies are even working to develop watermarking technology to “mark” AI-generated content, which would make it easier for detectors to catch.

How to Humanize AI Writing

Humanizing a piece of AI writing can seem challenging, especially if you are sifting through the results an AI detector can reveal about an AI-generated piece. 

However, there are several ways you can work to improve the “score” of a piece of AI writing and reduce the amount at which it flags on an AI detector.

The first is to increase the perplexity and burstiness of the text. This involves rearranging sentences to make them more complex and using creative word choices to make the writing sound unique.

The second is to add personal touches to the text. Depending on what has been generated, this can be done in various ways but may include adding depth to the piece through empathy and emotion. Adding a “human touch” to the piece will improve the rate at which AI detects the text.

The third is to increase the flow of the text. This could involve rearranging sentences to create greater transitions between paragraphs or rewriting on a sentence-by-sentence structure to make the transitions between each seem more natural and organic.

The fourth recommendation is to draw from your own experiences by throwing in human stories and anecdotes. These could be anything from how you feel about something you write about to your thoughts on the matters surrounding it. Using your experiences to personalize your writing ultimately makes it more unique, which makes it sound less like AI wrote it. 

Finally, using cliches, idioms, and other unique language can improve the score of an AI-generated piece. This type of language isn’t used in AI-generated writing and can make the writer sound more distinctive.

Things to Consider When Utilizing AI for Writing

For many, AI is the wave of the future and simply another tool to utilize when generating content. When used correctly, its benefits can be instrumental to automating a workload. Unfortunately, improperly utilizing an AI platform can harm the user and cause school and workplace issues.

Many schools–including high schools and places of higher education–have cracked down on using artificial intelligence in written papers and have resorted to using AI detectors to determine if something has been generated with artificial intelligence. 

It is essential to be honest and follow academic protocol when using artificially generated content in your education. While helpful in brainstorming and helping to assemble outlines, you should be hesitant to use it to develop an entire piece of writing for your class. 

Workplaces should also be cautious when utilizing AI in their platforms and brands. Transparency in the workplace should always be a number one priority, especially when working in avenues the public relies on for information. 

Artificially generated social media posts are easy, especially as the ability to generate written content, imagery, and videos becomes more widely accessible. Being honest with your audience should be a priority, as many still need to be more confident about the world of AI, its uses, and its overall implications.

Artificial intelligence can be an excellent tool for optimizing your workload and producing content to help you succeed. Even so, it is essential to remember that utilizing it comes with benefits and risks, so be cautious and, above all, take care of how you use this technology, especially if it involves education or the workplace. 

The last thing you want is to avoid facing accusations of plagiarism for an AI-generated piece of content or losing the trust of your business audience from utilizing it.

The Splinter editorial staff was not involved in the creation of this content.