How to Detect a Passage Was Generated by AI

Scrolling through TikTok or Instagram in the US these days, I often come across opinion pieces or emotional stories that just scream “AI-generated.” Some of these posts get thousands of likes! Over time, I’ve picked up on certain patterns and decided to put together a little “AI writing detector” guide for anyone who’s curious.

While some AI-generated posts are easy to spot—maybe they use odd symbols or always follow a three-paragraph structure—others require a more careful look. Here’s how you can tell:

1. Overuse of Metaphors

AI tends to pack in metaphors—sometimes five or more in just a few hundred words. Most Americans don’t naturally write with so many comparisons. Watch for repeated phrases like “just like,” “as if,” or “resembles.” There’s often an unnecessary metaphor, like: “The sound of the pen scratching paper is like a baby’s first cry,” or “the raised ridges are like a sleeping centipede.” If you see this a lot, it might be AI.

2. Personification of Technology

AI-generated texts love to humanize tech concepts. It might describe a neural network “weaving a tapestry of understanding in the night sky of pixels.” Older versions of AI used to throw in lots of random numbers—“the third button,” “the seventh second”—but you don’t see that as much anymore.

3. Over-the-Top Emotional Language

Look out for melodramatic expressions, as if every sentence is a plot twist. You’ll find plenty of adverbs and strong contrasts, such as “suddenly realized,” “finally understood,” or “the most striking thing is...” It can feel a bit like someone is trying too hard to be poetic.

4. Unnecessarily Complex Nouns

AI often likes to turn simple terms into something that sounds fancy but makes little sense. For example, calling a “cache mechanism” a “space-time folding technique of a memory palace,” or describing a machine as a “maternal juicer.” Sometimes it does the same thing with whole sentences, making them sound deep when they’re actually empty.

5. Excessive Scene Building

AI likes to create elaborate scenes that ultimately lack human warmth or relatable detail. These can change depending on keywords, but the common theme is that they’re vague and don’t spark any real emotional response.

6. Odd Use of Dashes and Montages

Another tell: sudden jumps or flashbacks marked with a dash— —almost like a random cut in a movie. These odd transitions often signal AI writing.

7. Breathless Pacing

AI-generated text often lacks rhythm. The passage might be broken up into paragraphs of the exact same length, or be made up of similarly long and winding sentences, with little room for the reader to pause and reflect. It just feels relentless and hard to read.

A Word of Caution

Even with all this knowledge, it’s still easy to make mistakes—especially when AI switches to a more concise style. And be careful: falsely accusing someone of using AI for their writing can be hurtful. There’s always a chance of a false positive, so use your AI detector skills with care! Welcome to try pptdetector.com