Sadly after reading some fics over the last few weeks I have gotten a much better sense of AI writing. At least what to look for (at this moment, the models are always changing)
Because with most AI accusations sure it might be AI, it might likely be AI, but often there are very real human authors who do that as well.
One thing that I have seen that I don't think any humans are doing is writing like this.
Big paragraph. Big paragraph big paragraph big paragraph big paragraph big paragraph big paragraph big paragraph big paragraph big paragraph big paragraph big paragraph big paragraph big paragraph big paragraph big paragraph. Big paragraph big paragraph big paragraph. Paragraph. Paragraph paragraph paragraph paragraph paragraph paragraph paragraph paragraph. Paragraph paragraph paragraph paragraph paragraph. Paragraph. Paragraph paragraph paragraph paragraph paragraph. single sentence single sentence single word/sentence
And then repeat of this structure. There may be more paragraphs involved. But the idea of having some exposition/dialogue, and then fading into these short ideas, concepts and even just single mood setting words, is what to look for.
Using this type of prose structure once or twice in a fic is not a red flag. But if the fic is following this same prose formula the entire time without break, then that is highly likely to be AI or involve AI in some way.
Writing follows patterns, but not this strictly. If it is repetitive to the point of feeling robotic it probably is.
With regards to the beautiful em dash. Em dash has gotten such a bad rep from it's overuse by AI models. One thing I noticed with the way AI seems to use em dash is not only incorrect, but it's also in a way that I really have not seen before (at least not to this extent)
AI seems to end sentences with em-dashes.
He reached for the door — — and froze.
Or
That wasn't supposed to happen —
Em dashes are a favorite among writers because they allow you to embed ideas within a clause, or extend a sentence without having to add a tenth comma(is that the best em dash use? no. But writers do love doing that) And AI does seem to do this with em dashes, however it also does something else that is way more of a red flag to me than the other more typical uses.
Ending a sentence where it feels like ellipses would be more appropriate with an em dash. This is very odd, I don't even know what it's trying to convey most of the time with this choice(because it wasn't written by a human and so is just throwing spaghetti at the wall)
The other is breaking up sentences where an en-dash would be more appropriate. For abrupt actions or sudden changes of topic to convey immediacy. But instead AI adds an em dash, and also breaks up the sentence into two lines.
I read one fic where it seemed to be using an em-dash in place of a period every three lines. It was beyond excessive and made no sense in terms of what was being said/described.
The correct version of the example sentence above would be.
He reached for the door - and froze. That wasn't supposed to happen...
Em dashes are not an AI red flag, I will defend em dashes forever. But I think that AI is throwing them around in very odd places. If you see dozens of em dashes at the end of sentences that to me is more of a red flag than the simple presence.
Do not make AI accusations based off what I have said here. If something is truly not good to the point you think it's AI just stop reading. Don't start witch hunts. This is just to help people spot AI if they want to avoid reading that sort of thing.
These are just some of my recent observations. I saw these patterns across multiple fics so, it was not just one author and one person's writing style.
