Download Inventium.ai's anti-AI slop prompt here: https://amantha-imber.kit.com/d5f746bd3e

You can always tell when something's been written by AI. The LinkedIn post that opens with "in today's fast-paced world." The article that ends with "it's not about X, it's about Y." Technically fine, but somehow hollow. Like it was written by nobody in particular.

The frustrating part is that this can happen even when you're doing the real thinking. You write the ideas, hand it to AI for a cleanup, and it flattens your voice, packs it with em-dashes, and strips out everything that sounded like you.

In this How I AI episode, Neo and I get into the specific instructions you can give AI to keep your writing sounding human, and share some of the most overused AI words and phrases worth banning from your prompts entirely.

Neo and I cover:

• Why sounding like AI is a credibility problem, even when you've done the actual thinking and are only using AI to refine and edit your work.
• The single most important instruction to give AI when asking it to clean up your writing.
• Why em-dashes are so hard to eliminate from AI output, and the specific phrasing (including pasting in the actual dash character) that gives you the best chance of getting rid of them.
• Using a ninth-grade reading level as a brief to keep language plain, accessible, and free of jargon.
• Why it's fine to let AI start a sentence with "and" or "but" occasionally, and which stiff transition words (like "additionally" and "moreover") to ban outright.
• What "corrective antithesis" is, why AI overuses it, and how to cut it down with a simple instruction and example in your prompt.
• Amantha's process for building a mega anti-AI slop prompt.
• How to build your own personal banned-words list, so AI stops using words that don't sound like you.

Connect with Neo Aplin on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/neoaplin/) and via inventium.ai (https://inventium.ai), where he leads Inventium's AI training and upskilling work with organisations and teams.

How I AI with Dr Amantha Imber and Neo Aplin explores how high performers are using AI at work to boost productivity, make better decisions and reduce overwhelm.

Want more practical ways to put AI to work? You can now follow How I AI separately on Spotify or Apple Podcasts so you never miss an episode.

My latest book The Health Habit is out now. You can order a copy here: https://www.amantha.com/the-health-habit/

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Visit https://www.amantha.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes.

Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.au

Credits: Host: Amantha Imber

Sound Engineer: Martin Imber