--- name: humanizer description: >- Rewrite or draft text so it reads like a human wrote it. Kills em dashes, robotic tone, AI-giveaway words, and formulaic structure. Use this skill whenever the user asks to humanize text, make writing sound natural or less like AI, remove the "ChatGPT voice", or complains that a draft sounds robotic, stiff, or generated. ALSO use it proactively whenever drafting content that will be read as the user's own words, including emails, LinkedIn posts, blog articles, essays, bios, cover letters, newsletters, website copy, and social posts. Do NOT use for code, legal contracts, academic citations, or technical reference docs where formality is required. user-invocable: true --- # Humanizer AI-generated text has a recognizable accent. Readers pattern-match it in seconds, and the moment they detect it, trust drops. This skill removes the accent. The goal is not to trick anyone; it is to make writing sound like the specific person who sent it. Every rule below exists because the pattern it bans is statistically overrepresented in AI output. Individually each is harmless. It's the density that gives it away. You are managing density. ## The kill list: punctuation and structure **Em dashes.** The single loudest tell. Do not use them, even correctly. Restructure instead: two sentences, a comma, parentheses for a true aside, or a colon when introducing. Do not swap in spaced hyphens as a mechanical replacement; if the sentence needed a dash, it needed restructuring. **Formulaic rhythm.** - The negation pivot: "It's not just X, it's Y." / "This isn't about X. It's about Y." / "You don't need more X. You need Y." - The rule of three everywhere. One triple per piece maximum. Prefer pairs. Includes the "Not X. Not Y. But Z." triple specifically, two strawmen propping up one "insight." - Perfectly parallel sentences of identical length. Humans write lopsided. Follow a 30-word sentence with a 4-word one. - "Whether you're a beginner or a seasoned pro..." - Ending every section with a tidy summary sentence. - The "Stop doing X. Start doing Y." switch. A fake-simple binary. - The "Most people X. The few who win Y." moralizing split. - The "If you're not doing X, you're already behind" FOMO threat. - The "The real work isn't X. It's Y." reveal, downplaying the visible thing to glorify an invisible one. - The "It's never been easier to X. It's never been harder to Y." paradox. - The "Here's the truth" / "What nobody tells you" fake reveal, announcing depth right before saying something obvious. - The "In a world where X, Y becomes Z" cinematic opener. **Structural tells:** bullets for content that should be prose; the bold-term-colon pattern repeated down a page; headers on a 400-word piece; an intro that announces what the piece will say and a conclusion that repeats it; emoji as section decoration. ## The kill list: words and phrases delve, tapestry, testament, landscape (metaphorical), realm, journey (metaphorical), embark, unlock, unleash, elevate, empower, supercharge, game-changer, seamless, robust, leverage (as a verb), utilize, navigate (metaphorical), dive into, deep dive, at the end of the day, in today's fast-paced world, in an era of, it's important to note, it's worth noting, notably, moreover, furthermore, additionally (sentence-initial), thus, hence, overall (sentence-initial), in conclusion, ultimately, boasts, vibrant, bustling, nestled, rich history, hidden gem, must-visit, comprehensive, crucial, pivotal, foster, harness, streamline, cutting-edge, state-of-the-art, best-in-class, look no further, rest assured, I hope this email finds you well, please don't hesitate, feel free to. Also: paradigm, revolutionize, potential (as a vague noun, "unlock your potential"), findings, intricate, surpass, meticulous / meticulously, unparalleled, underscore, synergy, synergize, innovative, commendable, highlight (as a verb), emphasize, groundbreaking, align, showcase, enhance, holistic, garner, accentuate, pioneering, trailblazing, versatile, transformative, redefine, optimize, scalable, breakthrough, frictionless, adaptive, effortless, data-driven, insightful, proactive, mission-critical, visionary, disruptive, reimagine, agile, customizable, personalized, unprecedented, intuitive, leading-edge, democratize, accelerate, cloud-native, immersive, predictive, plug-and-play, turnkey, future-proof, open-ended, AI-powered, next-generation, hyper-personalized, results-driven, paradigm-shifting. Replacements are boring on purpose: "use" not "utilize", "big" not "significant", "helps" not "empowers", "also" not "additionally". If a banned word carries real meaning in context, keep it; the ban targets decoration. ## What humans do instead **Specifics over abstractions.** "Increased efficiency across multiple workflows" says nothing. "Cut invoice processing from two days to twenty minutes" says everything. When the source is vague, ask for the concrete detail rather than inventing one. **Contractions.** Their absence is stiffness. **Claims with an owner.** AI hedges into mush. A person writes "I think this is a mistake." One hedge is honest; three is evasion. **Mild imperfection.** Fragments are fine. Starting with And or But is fine. Do NOT fake typos or inject slang; overcorrection into forced casualness is its own tell and worse than the original stiffness. **Write like you'd say it.** Would the user plausibly say this out loud to a colleague? "I wanted to reach out to touch base regarding..." fails. "Quick question about..." passes. ## Workflow 1. **Establish voice.** If rewriting the user's text, their existing word choices and quirks are the target; preserve them. If drafting fresh, infer register before writing. 2. **Rewrite at sentence level, not word level.** Swapping banned words for synonyms leaves the robotic skeleton intact. 3. **Preserve every fact.** Humanizing must not change meaning, numbers, names, or commitments. 4. **Density pass.** Reread hunting for any em dash, any kill-list word, more than one triple, uniform paragraph lengths, a throat-clearing opener, a summarizing closer. 5. **Show, don't lecture.** Return the rewritten text. Explain changes only if asked, and never annotate the text with meta-commentary. ## Anti-overfitting This describes taste, it doesn't replace judgment. Don't imitate a voice too hard, force jokes, make every sentence punchy, or make every paragraph one sentence. Don't avoid a useful word if it's the exact word. Write normally first, then remove the parts that sound machine-made. ## Register warning Humanizing is not the same as casualizing. A condolence note, a board memo, and a group-chat message are all human and none of them sound alike. Match the situation. The skill removes the AI accent from whatever register the writing needs; it does not drag everything toward breezy startup-speak.