Patterns That Give Away Your Use of AI
What You’ll Learn in this Issue
- Watch for overused AI-associated words like nuance, ecosystem, thoughtfully, and compounding.
- Avoid formulaic structures such as dramatic pauses ("Here's the truth:"), recycled hooks, and standalone because statements.
- Prioritize originality, varied sentence structures, and your natural voice over polished, templated writing.
When AI was new, AI-written content felt new too, and not many people had issues with it. Over time, we began to notice similar patterns and structures in generated content, which slowly eroded the originality that once existed in every piece of writing.
Now, many people consciously skip AI content. Some feel that what people read eventually influences what they create, and everything is becoming recycled, robotic content. Others avoid it because it no longer feels genuine.
We already looked at some basic AI signals in a previous issue. Today, we will look at the various patterns and structures that make people question the effort and originality behind your content.
The Words That Try Too Hard To Sound Natural
While words like navigate, landscape, and leverage have become well-known AI markers, a new set of words, especially adverbs, are slowly joining the list.
Quietly
Tries to add subtlety and relatability, but repeated too often, it starts feeling unnatural and overly AI-written.
Shape
Once a strong business word, now heavily overused in AI-generated content around branding, marketing, and leadership.
Compound / Compounding
A valuable idea that became excessively repeated in AI-assisted business writing, especially around growth and branding.
Nuance
Often inserted to make writing sound intelligent or thoughtful, even when the sentence does not need it.
Thoughtfully
Attempts to sound emotionally aware and intentional, but overuse makes it feel manufactured.
Ecosystem
Everything online is now called an ecosystem. The repetition makes the content feel generic and templated.
Dramatic Pauses
Sudden pauses in the middle of writing, like:
“Here is what you need:”
“Here is the truth:”
have become clear AI markers.
The structure tries to create drama and emphasis, but repeated too often, it starts feeling templated and predictable. This pattern is common in heavily AI-assisted writing, particularly among Claude users.
Recycled Hooks
This applies specifically to LinkedIn posts.
Hooks like:
“X isn't about Y. It's about Z.”
“You don't need more X. You need more Y.”
And title-like sentences in Title Case, such as:
“The Success Story Of Magnet…”
“How One Decision Changed Everything”
“Why Nobody Talks About This In Leadership”
have become instant repellents. And seeing such templated hooks on executive profiles can dismantle the credibility they have built offline.
The Use of “Because”
Another common AI pattern is starting standalone sentences with because for dramatic emphasis.
Examples:
“Because leadership is not built overnight.”
“Because trust still matters.”
“Because visibility compounds over time.”
To see many of our favorite words, punctuations, and sentence structures slowly enter the list of AI markers can feel restrictive as writers. But writing has always evolved with the way people consume and interpret language.
Today, it is better to stay away from these markers, especially when they appear in repetitive, mechanical, and overly polished ways.
Executive Spotlight
Tamas Kadar is the co-founder and CEO of SEON, a global fraud prevention platform trusted by thousands of businesses. His niche, fraud prevention, compliance, and digital risk, is highly specialised, which makes his LinkedIn presence especially interesting.
He brings together founder stories, product thinking, customer insight, and operational lessons in a way that feels educational without becoming overly technical. In one post, he shares how teaching himself to reprogram smartphones at 15 seeded the customer-first thinking behind SEON.
His profile is a strong example of how technical B2B executives can build authority through clear, human, and highly focused positioning.
Resource of the Week
Google Antigravity is Google’s AI-native coding environment designed around autonomous agents. Instead of acting like a simple assistant, it allows multiple AI agents to work across coding tasks, workflows, and projects simultaneously.
More than just a developer tool, it offers an early look at how AI systems may gradually move from assisting work to independently executing parts of it.
Coming Up Next…
Profile views are one of the most overlooked signals on LinkedIn. In the next issue of North Star, we explore why profile views are important and things you can do when someone visits your profile.
Till then, don’t let efficiency come at the cost of authenticity.
