Lately, when you read an article, social media post, announcement, or even an email – you are left wondering if a human wrote it or if it was written with AI (artificial intelligence). While both are effective ways of communicating, there are some telltale signs that what you’ve got in front of you was authored by a computer and not a set of fingers connected to a human brain. Below are a few things to look for in your quest for the truth.

The main thing to be aware of is that while AI writing is generally thought of as flawless, it can feel a little off at times.

Style & Formatting Flaws

The Em—Dash: Use of the long dash, commonly called the em dash—is one of the main ways people say they detect AI. Regardless of what you believe, one thing is certain. Before AI came onto the scene — this particular punctuation wasn’t as widely used as it is now.

Overuse of Bullets: AI seems to love a good bulleted list. For everything! Answers to questions often result in a bulleted list when a paragraph or two would do.

Randomly Bolding Words & Phrases: Bolding pops up in AI authored content in the most random places. So does italicizing.

Semicolon Showoff: The AI uses the semicolon (;) excessively; sometimes grammatically correctly; often just to flex its knowledge of punctuation.

Footnotes: AI sometimes adds unnecessary asterisks and footnotes to basic facts when they’re not needed. Example: “the sky is blue¹.” ov

Syntax & Structure Anomalies

Predictable Sentence Structure: The sentences used in AI writing go something like this: Subject, verb, object, period. There isn’t much variation even in very long or complex writings.

Over Explaining: Explains in a complex manner, using lots of examples and sentences – even when the idea is easy to grasp.

Perfect Grammar: No typos, no misspellings, no punctuation problems. Everything is an A+ paper. Humans don’t write like this.

The Summary: AI likes a wrap up, even when nobody asked for one.

Voice & Tone Troubles

Overly Enthusiastic: The response to a query almost always begins with an excitedly positive affirmation. “Great question! Way to really think this through, [Name]!”

Best Friend-isms: Some AI is actually programmed to use words like: buddy, sweetheart, pal, friend, etc. While the intentions are good, it can feel weird coming from a computer.

Awkward humor: When AI cracks a joke, it will sometimes tell you, “That was humor.” To which we say, LOL.

Art Glitches

Extra Fingers & Limbs: It looks like something out of a horror movie (or maybe a kindergarten class). Extra fingers, arms, and legs in images of people.

Porcelain Doll Face: Faces on people in images that aren’t realistic. Flawless complexion, ideal lighting, and eyes set back like that of a doll.

Distorted Props: Another area of challenge for AI is weird background items and props. Signs are often jumbled. Forks have wavy prongs. Things of that nature.

AI Is Not Bad

Artificial Intelligence is becoming more widely used for quick answers when the user doesn’t have time to search dozens of websites for ideas, information, or even opinions. This blog is a means to easily identify when something was created entirely or nearly entirely by AI as opposed to by a human. Here is an example of how AI can be used for the benefit of a consumer.

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How We Use AI to Create Your Office Work Space

We hope this list has provided you with a few real-world, human examples of when something is AI. Oh and if you need a little extra help in determining if something is real or AI, there are actually AI detectors!

At Office Furniture EZ, we have humans to help you. From answering the phone, to visiting your business for measurements and planning, we’re people serving people. Our expert designers have decades of hands-on experience designing office spaces and maximizing real estate to get the most for your budget. Really the only artificial intelligence in our process is a practical one: in our CAD (Computer-Aided Design) drawings.

CAD is software allows us to translate the vision you have for your office is going to work well in your office. This means every desk, wall panel, and cabinet fits perfectly into your space. We want your furniture to be perfectly functional, so you can maximize productivity for your team and serve those who rely on you for products and services.

It’s safe to say that we provide human service, perfected by machine precision. It all starts with us coming to you to see your workplace in person while learning about your vision. Send us a Free Site Survey Request when you’re ready. We look forward to earning your business.