The Anti-AI-Slop Checklist

AI content has structural tells. Not word-level. Pattern-level. You can swap every "delve" and "tapestry" for normal words and the output still reads like a machine wrote it. Because the problem isn't vocabulary. It's architecture.

Here are 8 patterns to kill on sight.

1. The Tricolon

Three sentences with identical structure back to back.

Example: "It builds trust. It drives engagement. It creates loyalty."

Your brain skips it because it's predictable after the first sentence. The reader knows what's coming before they read it. That's bad writing.

Fix: Delete two of the three. Or rewrite all three with completely different structures. One short. One long with a subordinate clause. One that starts with a different part of speech.

2. The Inversion: "Not X, it's Y"

Example: "It's not about the money. It's about the mission."

Every AI model loves this pattern. It sounds profound. It's not. It's a crutch that substitutes structure for insight.

Fix: State the point directly. "The mission matters more than the money." Use this pattern maximum once per 10 posts. If you're reaching for it more than that, you're leaning on it.

3. The Symmetrical Mirror

Two sentences with inverted parallel structure.

Example: "Don't wait for the right moment. Make the moment right."

Sounds clever. Says nothing. Your reader has heard 500 versions of this.

Fix: Say one half. Drop the mirror. "Stop waiting for the right moment." Done. The reversal adds cleverness, not clarity.

4. The Setup-Reveal

Building tension, then a dramatic reveal. Usually with a paragraph break for effect.

Example: "I spent 3 months building it. Tested every feature. Polished every pixel. And then...

Nobody came."

The paragraph break is doing all the emotional work. The writing isn't.

Fix: Cut the buildup. Say the point. "Built an app for 3 months. Nobody used it." The brevity hits harder than the manufactured drama.

5. Fortune-Cookie Compression

A perfectly clean, quotable aphorism that sounds like it belongs on a motivational poster.

Example: "Discipline is choosing between what you want now and what you want most."

Could be engraved on a plaque at HomeGoods. That's the problem.

Fix: Add specific detail. Make it messier. "I wanted to skip the gym this morning. Went anyway. Didn't even have a good workout. But I went." Messy is human. Clean is machine.

6. The Minimalist Triplet

Example: "Build. Ship. Repeat."

Three single-word sentences. AI loves this. Readers scroll past it. It's the written equivalent of a stock photo.

Fix: Use two or four. Never three. Two feels intentional. Four feels like a real list. Three feels like a template.

7. Perfect Grammar Everywhere

Zero contractions. No fragments. No sentences starting with "And" or "But." Every comma in the right place. Every paragraph a tidy 3-5 sentences.

Real people don't write like that. Real writing has rough edges. Not errors exactly, just the natural imperfections of someone thinking on paper.

Fix: Don't deliberately insert errors. That's worse. Just stop over-polishing. Leave the fragment that feels right. Keep the "And" at the start of the sentence. Let a paragraph be one sentence if that's all it needs.

8. Rhetorical Question Overuse

Example: "But what if there's a better way? What if the key to productivity isn't working harder?"

AI opens with rhetorical questions constantly. Uses them as transitions. Stacks them back to back.

Fix: Maximum 2 rhetorical questions per piece. Never as an opener. Never back to back. Convert the rest to direct statements.

Quick Scan Checklist

Before you publish, scan for:

Any group of 3 parallel sentences (kill the tricolon)
"Not X, it's Y" inversions (max 1 per piece)
Mirrored sentence pairs (drop one half)
Dramatic paragraph-break reveals (cut the buildup)
Clean quotable lines (add mess and detail)
Three-word power sentences (use 2 or 4)
Suspiciously perfect grammar (let it breathe)
Stacked rhetorical questions (max 2 total)

The Rule

If a sentence could be engraved on a plaque at HomeGoods, rewrite it. Real writing has fingerprints. AI writing has polish. Know the difference.