How do I stop AI writing from sounding so robotic and formal?

The fastest way to make AI writing sound human is to feed it a sample of your own voice first, then ask it to match that tone instead of just saying 'write casually.' Most people just type 'make it less formal' and get frustrated when the AI swaps one stiff style for another. I've found the real trick is showing, not telling. For example, instead of prompting 'write a friendly email,' paste a short email you've actually written and say: 'Rewrite the following announcement using the exact same sentence rhythm and word choices as the sample above.' You'll get much closer to your natural voice. Another thing that works well is giving the AI a specific person to mimic — 'write this as if you're explaining it to a coworker over coffee' creates a different output than 'write for a general audience.' Be concrete about what you don't want, too. 'Avoid sentences that start with However or Furthermore' is a direct instruction the AI can follow. The underlying issue is that AI models default to a kind of averaged-out, polite helpfulness that nobody actually talks like. You have to deliberately break that default. For a deeper dive, see our guide on fixing AI writing that sounds too formal. **Related**: Why does my AI content sound like a textbook? | What's the best prompt for conversational blog posts?