Arguing with no one
"Don't get me wrong, documentation matters." Nobody said it didn't. AI drafts often argue with objections that appear nowhere in the text.
What it looks like
- Don't get me wrong
- To be clear, / I'm not saying
- You might think... but
- One might be tempted to...
- A tempting approach would be...
Why it reads as AI
These are leftovers from the model hedging against criticism. They make the text defensive and longer.
Examples and fixes
BeforeI'm not saying meetings are bad. To be clear, some meetings are useful.
AfterWe kept the Monday planning meeting and cut the rest.
How to fix it
- Remove the defense. If there's a real claim inside, keep just the claim.
- Keep an objection only if real readers raise it, and answer it fully.
When it's fine
Answering a real, common objection is good writing.
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