Don’t Use AI to Write Your College Papers!

Guys, I’m seriously begging you—don’t use AI to write your essays! 😱

Let me tell you what happened: I just got totally chewed out by my professor, Dr. Smith, here at the University of Chicago. The paper I handed in—yes, the one I thought was perfectly edited after pulling an all-nighter—was instantly flagged as AI-generated. I was mortified! So, for all my fellow students still thinking about using AI, I’m sharing my hard-earned lessons so you don’t make the same mistakes.

How to Remove AI Traces from Your Writing

1. The Easiest Signs Professors Look For: The language is way too formal and academic

The logic is suspiciously perfect

Sentences and paragraphs are overly neat and tidy

Every paragraph ends with a summary

The references look too organized

2. How to Save Your Paper:

a) Add More Casual Expressions:

Change “This research shows that…” to “The research found…”

“The data indicates…” can become “Looking at the data…”

Instead of “According to the survey…,” say “The survey found…”

Replace “It is evident that…” with “So I think…”

“It is worth noting…” could be “Just to mention…”

b) Break Up the Perfect Logic:

Remove some transition words

Add a few filler words or casual phrases

Throw in a few contradictions or questions

Keep a bit of spoken English

c) Make the Language Less Formal:

“Indeed” → “Yeah”

“It’s obvious” → “Clearly”

“It goes without saying” → “Of course”

“Therefore” → “So, it looks like…”

“Undoubtedly” → “No big deal”

d) Add Human Touches:

Make paragraph lengths inconsistent

Use filler words or casual asides (like “well,” “you know,” or “right?”)

Mix up your punctuation

Add the occasional note in parentheses

Don’t be afraid to use a dash now and then

⚡ Important Tip: DO NOT use AI “paraphrasing” or rewriting tools! I tried three different platforms, and every time, the text ended up even more robotic—my professor saw through it immediately.

My Step-By-Step Fix-It Plan

Run your paper through a detector tool (like PaperPass or Turnitin) to check for AI probability.

Focus on any paragraph where the AI percentage is over 40%.

Go through and rewrite those sections using the methods above.

Add your own thoughts and opinions!

Re-test until the AI rate is below 5%.

Sample Timeline

Morning: Write your rough draft

Noon: Check AI detection score

Afternoon: Edit and “humanize” the text

Evening: Final read-through and polish

Professors are literally training themselves to spot AI-generated writing now! A girl in my friend’s dorm, Ashley, had to rewrite her thesis three times because her professor kept sending it back. She almost had a breakdown…

So seriously, underclassmen: Don’t use AI to write your papers. The most important thing is to show your own thinking. No matter how good an AI-generated paper looks, it just doesn’t have your voice or soul.

I hope my nightmare helps you avoid the same fate. Write your papers honestly—don’t try to cut corners! 😭

— Jessica, University of Chicago, Class of 2025 welcome to try pptdetector.com