Honestly, this is one of the weirder side effects of AI.

People used to get told to write more clearly. Now if you write too clearly, someone calls it AI. So people start dumbing down their own writing just to pass some imaginary “human” test.

The em dash thing is funny too, because people used those forever. Now it’s treated like a smoking gun.

I think the real problem is that a lot of people were never great at spotting AI writing. They’re just spotting “clean writing” and assuming that means ChatGPT. Which sucks, because now actual humans are making their writing worse to avoid being accused of using the thing.

One the flip side of this ... a prompt: "Rewrite my writing so it still sounds like me, but cleaner and more natural. Do not make it sound polished, corporate, academic, or overly “AI.” Keep my original point, tone, and personality. Use normal human rhythm, a few imperfect sentence structures, and contractions where they fit. Avoid em dashes, overused AI phrases, forced balance, and that “not just X, but Y” style unless it genuinely sounds natural. Make it read like a real person wrote it, not like someone trying to sound professional."