Are Only Bad Writers Human? Why Perfect Writing Now Gets You Branded AI

You spend years learning how to write. You read everything you can get your hands on. You write, delete, rewrite, edit, polish, and polish again—until your words sing. And now… suddenly, the very thing you worked for, the skill you spent decades honing, is a problem. Because apparently, perfect writing is suspicious. It smells like AI.

Yes, you read that right. In 2025, being a skilled writer can make people question whether you’re human. Welcome to the absurd world of AI detection.

AI Detectors and the “Signs” of Artificial Writing

You might have seen the blogs—the posts that claim they can “tell AI from human writing.” They have lists. Lists like:

1. Starts sentences with “So”? Definitely AI.
2. Uses dashes—yep, AI.
3. Writes with perfect grammar, no typos, logical flow? A robot, for sure.

The list goes on and on, and sometimes, I swear, it’s written by someone who’s never met a human writer in their life. Because here’s the thing: humans write in all kinds of ways. We use “so” at the beginning of a sentence because it sounds natural. We use dashes because sometimes a comma isn’t enough. And yes—sometimes our sentences flow too well because we’ve actually practiced writing, unlike a lot of online content.

But the internet—and some AI detection tools—want to tell us that these human quirks are signs of… AI. Irony doesn’t even begin to cover it.

The Ironic Truth About AI Learning

Here’s the kicker: AI learned how to write by reading humans. Millions of books, articles, essays—written by real, live, actual people. Good writers. Brilliant writers. Humans whose sentences were carefully crafted over years or decades.

And now? That same polished, thoughtful style—the thing that made AI capable of producing text—is exactly what triggers suspicion. The very thing humans created, honed, and refined is now “too perfect” to be human.

So let me get this straight: humans teach AI to write. AI learns to mimic humans. Humans write like humans. And humans are then accused of being AI. Makes sense. Sort of. Not really. But—well, welcome to 2025.

Why Good Writing Backfires

It’s not just the dashes or the “so.” It’s the nuance. The extra detail. The sentences that twist and turn the way our brains actually work. ADHD writers, for example—we add extra clauses, extra explanations, extra flair—because our brains demand it. And suddenly, that style is a red flag.

I’ve been using dashes for decades. Decades. Not because I’m trying to sound like a robot. Not because I’ve “read too many books.” No—because sometimes a dash is the only way to capture the nuance, the pause, the thought spilling over the line. But now, AI detectors tell me my decades of authentic human quirks are “suspiciously artificial.”

And it’s not just me. Any writer who learned how to write well—anyone who can produce clean, coherent, engaging text—is now at risk of being labeled a fraud. Because AI is good at mimicking good writing. And apparently, being good at writing is… not human anymore.

The Broader Consequences

This isn’t just annoying—it’s dangerous. If good writing is penalized, writers might start dumbing down their style to “pass” as human. Creativity could suffer. Nuance could disappear. Complexity might be replaced with short, simple sentences that AI can’t mimic.

Imagine a world where the more skilled you are, the less credible your writing seems. Where nuance, personality, and flair—everything that makes writing enjoyable and human—is treated as a liability. That’s not a world I want to live in. And frankly, it’s not a world most writers want to live in, either.

Embracing the Human in Writing

So, what’s the takeaway? Embrace your style. Embrace your quirks. Embrace the dashes, the “so,” the extra clauses. That’s what makes your writing human. That’s what makes it yours.

Yes, AI exists. Yes, it can mimic humans. But it cannot mimic your life, your experiences, your brain. It cannot capture the ADHD mind that tangents into brilliance, the slow pause before a dash that holds meaning, the perfectly imperfect flow of real human thought.

Maybe, one day, the world will stop treating polished, well-crafted sentences as suspicious. Maybe. But until then… write like a human. Write like yourself. Because at the end of the day, authenticity is the only thing AI can never truly copy.

And maybe—just maybe—the only way to prove you’re human is to write badly. But really, shouldn’t being human mean you get to write your way, whether perfect or messy, polished or chaotic? I think so.

PS. Very human, please don't comment "this is AI" because I might have a nervous breakdown :)