How to edit AI to sound like you
Written by zoe ALEXIS WHITEHORN
I once watched a potentially game-changing advocacy campaign get buried in jargon and technical details. It had all the right data and nuance. But that throw-all-the-expertise-at-the-wall approach led straight to glazed-over eyes and disengaged audiences. Momentum squashed.
Something felt off… I was reading the latest newsletter from a health group I’ve admired for years. While I’ve always felt connected to the leader whose expert voice I trust, this time, her voice was gone.
The warmth and personality were replaced by sentences that felt a little too perfect, a little… familiar. It was the unmistakable voice of careless AI.
That icky feeling was a reminder: When our writing sounds like it could have been written by anyone, our audiences lose connection.
By blindly accepting AI-created drafts, we risk creating “workslop" or low-quality, generic content that does more than just waste time. It leads to a boring, indistinguishable voice that erodes the trust you've worked so hard to build.
Listen, I’m obsessed with AI. It’s a magical assistant that can make our work smarter. (For me, the excitement is in the everyday partnership. Summarize things! Tell me I’m wrong! Make my project plan more flexible!)
✨ But when it comes to content, it’s humans who have that good, good sparkle. ✨
Think of it this way: if any organization could say it that way, then you shouldn't say it all.
Your ai editing checklist
Using AI well, on the other hand, means YOU are the boss. Here are a few ways to make sure you're in charge.
Feed AI a healthy diet rich in brand ingredients.
Your AI is what it eats. Before you ask it to write, prep it with brand essentials. Your core messages, for example, could be your blueprint for success here. Feed AI your mission and vision, your style guide and a maybe few examples of past op-eds or blog posts you love.
2. Hunt for familiar robot patterns.
AI models have their favorite tricks. They learn what sounds "professional," and then they repeat it. A lot. Your job is to spot these patterns when they dull the sparkle of your message.
The punctuation tell. Lately, everyone is freaking out about the em-dash. And look, the em-dash is a perfectly fine punctuation mark. The problem is only that AI loves it a wee too much. The same goes for colons. When you see overuse like this, just ask: Is this mark adding clarity, or does it make my writing sound like everyone else’s? (Often, two short, punchy sentences are much stronger.)
The sentence structure tell. AI likes to default to a clunky structure: "It's not about X; it's about Y.” You've seen it. "This isn't just a challenge; it's an opportunity." Just delete the first half. Lead with your real point. It’s more confident and avoids the risk of reinforcing a barrier in your audience’s mind.
3. Make AI your editing assistant.
You can give feedback to AI just like you’d give a member of your team. Be direct.
Give it direct feedback. You can literally say, "Rewrite this, but make it warmer and more direct. Get rid of the jargon". Sometimes I even say wild things like, “Make this 7% less formal, and don’t be folksy about it.” It’s at least amusingly specific.
Ask it to check itself. To give a simple example, try a prompt like: "Read this draft and identify any sentences in the passive voice. Then, suggest an active voice alternative.”
Ask it to uphold your guardrails and protect your voice. You can ask AI to review its own work. Feed it your core messaging document and prompt it: "Review the draft above and flag any words or phrases that don't align with the brand voice I've provided. Suggest improvements."
4. Fact-check every single claim.
AI models can hallucinate, which means they make things up with truly admirable confidence. They will invent statistics and link to articles that don’t exist. You are responsible for every word you publish. Verify all the things you can.
At the end of the day, people love your organization for a reason. They show up because they believe in your mission and want to feel a part of your incredible work. Your organization’s voice is the most direct line to that feeling. It carries passion and leads to deep connection with your audiences.
Don’t let a robot have the last word on that relationship.
P.S. If you're working through what your core messages even are, that's a perfect place to start. Our Messaging Strategy service is all about digging in to define that authentic voice so you can use it consistently, no matter who (or what! 🤖) is doing the drafting.
