How do I stop AI writing from sounding like a robot?

You stop AI writing from sounding robotic by giving it a specific voice to mimic and editing the output yourself — the AI is a first draft machine, not a final publisher. Most people blame the tool when the real problem is they're not showing it what 'human' sounds like. I've found that pasting a short sample of your own writing into the prompt works better than any list of tone instructions. For example, if you write emails like 'Hey team, quick thought on the Q3 numbers — the retention dip isn't as scary as it looks,' paste that in and tell the AI to match the casual, direct rhythm. The AI will latch onto your sentence structure, your word choices, even your punctuation habits. But here's the part nobody mentions. You still need to read it out loud. AI tends to write in perfectly balanced paragraphs that no actual human produces. Break up the flow. Add a sentence fragment. Throw in a contraction where the AI used 'do not.' Real writing has texture. A useful trick I lean on: after the AI generates something, I delete the first sentence. AI openers are almost always too formal or too broad. The second sentence is usually where the real thought starts. For a deeper dive, see our guide on fixing AI writing that sounds too formal. **Related**: Why does my ChatGPT sound so stiff and formal? | What's the best prompt to make AI write like a human?