In the age of artificial intelligence, automated essay writing tools have become increasingly popular among students seeking a shortcut through the often laborious process of academic writing. With a simple prompt, these tools can generate pages of apparently well-formed prose—but professors and educators are often quick to spot AI-generated content and reject it. Why? Because the writing often lacks depth, specificity, and a human touch.
TLDR
Many AI essay tools produce writing that is overly generic and devoid of original thought or voice, leading professors to reject these submissions. While AI can assist with structure and grammar, it often fails at audience awareness, critical reasoning, and personal insight. These flaws make the writing easy to detect as machine-generated. With the right strategies, however, students can revise AI drafts into more authentic, humanized work.
Why AI-Generated Writing Often Feels Generic
Automated essay tools rely heavily on large language models trained on vast corpora of internet data. While these models excel at grammar and coherent sentence formation, they often falter when it comes to providing specific, nuanced, or deeply insightful content. Here are a few key reasons why AI-generated writing tends to feel generic and impersonal:
- Template-Driven Patterns: Most AI writing tools are designed to follow formulaic structures like “introduction-body-conclusion” formats and standard transitional phrases that make essays appear overly formal and rigid.
- Lack of Contextual Awareness: AI does not truly “understand” the subject matter. It cannot interpret class-specific requirements, professor expectations, or the nuances of a given academic field.
- Absence of Personal Insight: AI does not have lived experiences, beliefs, or original viewpoints. Its output is drawn entirely from previously existing texts, making it difficult for it to produce truly novel perspectives.
- Inability to Engage in Critical Thinking: Essays that require argumentation, moral reasoning, or the evaluation of competing perspectives often fall flat when automatically generated.
This lack of originality becomes evident to many instructors. Over time, experienced professors develop what some call a “sixth sense” about writing that doesn’t sound like it came from a student — especially if it lacks authenticity, risks no argument, and seems to “hover” over the topic instead of digging deeply into it.
How Professors Detect AI-Written Work
There are several telltale signs that educators look for when evaluating student essays. Some of them include:
- Generic Vocabulary and Sentence Structures: AI writing often includes overly general phrasing like “Throughout history…” or “In today’s modern society…” that don’t show engagement with the specific assignment.
- Surface-Level Analysis: Instead of diving into critical examination, AI writing tends to stay on the surface, avoiding confrontation with complex arguments.
- Inconsistent Voice: If a student has previously submitted work, a sudden shift in tone, complexity, or style can set off red flags.
- Factual Inaccuracies: AI can sometimes “hallucinate” facts or citations that sound real but are actually fabricated or misrepresented.
Additionally, many professors are turning to AI-detection tools to assess the likelihood that a given submission was written using automated software. While not foolproof, these tools add another layer of scrutiny to the evaluation process.
Why Re-Humanization Is Necessary
Automated drafts can be useful starting points — especially for brainstorming or outlining. However, students must go beyond what AI can provide and inject their own voice, reasoning, and creativity into their writing. This process is known as re-humanization, and it’s key to transforming a sterile machine-generated draft into a compelling, individual piece of academic work.
What Does Re-Humanizing a Draft Really Mean?
Re-humanizing doesn’t just mean rephrasing or editing a few sentences. It involves deeper engagement. The student needs to:
- Infuse their own analysis and opinions
- Revise for audience awareness (i.e., write for their professor, not the internet)
- Ensure the draft reflects class material, readings, or lectures
- Add unique examples and case studies that support the argument
How to Re-Humanize AI-Generated Drafts
Here are several practical strategies students can use to re-humanize an AI-generated essay draft:
1. Add Personal Experience or Unique Perspective
One of the most powerful ways to humanize text is to incorporate your own perspective. Was there a moment in class that challenged your beliefs? Can you relate the topic to something from your life or prior learning? These touches personalize the essay.
2. Deepen the Argument
AI may write that “climate change is a serious issue that affects everyone.” But what does that mean in the context of your course? Instead of broad statements, zoom in. Reference a specific reading, theory, or historical example. Ask: What’s my stance? Why is this quote important? What do I want the reader to take away?
3. Revise the Structure for Flow and Meaning
AI-generated drafts often use rigid five-paragraph essay formats or logical progressions that sound mechanical. Break free of these structures if they don’t serve your argument. Prioritize clarity and purpose over formula.
4. Verify All Facts and Sources
Never take AI-generated data or citations at face value. If the tool includes footnotes or references, check every single one. If you find made-up or misquoted material, replace it with verified sources. Cite readings from your course wherever possible.
5. Edit for Voice and Style
Re-read the draft aloud. Does it sound like something you would say? Does it use idioms or transitions that feel odd? Replace overly formal or generic phrases with language that is sincere, clear, and appropriate for your academic context.
6. Ask for Feedback
Before submitting your final draft, have a peer, tutor, or writing center coach review it. Human readers can tell you whether what you’ve written actually makes sense and feels authentic. They may also catch traces of machine-written sections that you missed.
The Ethical and Academic Stakes
While AI-generated writing is easy to access, relying entirely on it shifts students away from the real goal of education: learning how to think, write, and engage critically. Submitting AI work without revision risks more than a poor grade — it raises serious academic integrity concerns. Many institutions consider unedited AI writing a violation of their honor code or plagiarism policies.
There is also the ethical question of authorship. If a tool writes the essay, whose ideas are they? Students must not become passive vessels for rehashed content. Even in an AI-saturated world, human insight, creativity, and moral reasoning remain irreplaceable.
Conclusion
AI essay tools will continue to evolve, but unless students put in the effort to re-humanize machine-generated drafts, the results will remain disappointingly generic — and professors will continue to reject them. By treating AI as a starting point rather than the end product, learners have the opportunity to elevate their writing and truly make it their own.
Authentic essays carry more than correct grammar or pleasing structure. They reflect thought, risk, curiosity, and understanding — the very qualities that AI cannot replicate, and which define meaningful academic work.
