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I Teach Writing And These Phrases Tell Me You Used ChatGPT And Are Dating My Mother
It’s no secret artificial intelligence is completely upending the way we think of writing. Used properly, tools like ChatGPT can be a game-changer and take your writing to another level. Used incorrectly, however, and it can leave your writing feeling clunky and, well, artificial.
As a longtime writing professor and editor, I’m an expert at spotting bad writing, and AI is full of it. Here are several phrases I see time and again that are a giveaway that you used ChatGPT and also that you are probably dating my mother.
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1. “Hey, bud. I wanted to reach out and speak with you man-to-man. But since you won’t come out of your room, I figured I’d try writing to you.”
As you can see, this sentence structure is rigid and lacks awareness. “Man-to-man” is an awkward term and likely an AI attempting to be over-familiar. Secondly, I’m not your “bud.” I’m a grown man with tenure. And maybe I don’t want to talk to you because I have nothing to say to you?
