runtsang/writing-anti-ai

Writing Anti-AI for Rebuttal Prose

RebuttalStudio Utility — Stage 2 / Stage 4 / Polish Apply this skill after Stage 2 refinement or Stage 4 follow-up drafting when the output reads formulaic or over-polished. Use before the Stage 3 document compilation to ensure the final rebuttal sounds authored by a researcher, not generated by a model.

Remove predictable AI writing patterns from rebuttal text so it reads as natural, confident academic prose — not as machine-generated boilerplate.

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Why This Matters for Rebuttals

Reviewers are experienced academics who read hundreds of papers and rebuttals. A rebuttal that sounds AI-generated signals:

• Lack of genuine engagement with the concerns
• Boilerplate responses that don't address the specific paper
• Reduced credibility and persuasiveness

The goal is not to hide AI assistance — it's to ensure the ideas and voice of the actual authors come through clearly.

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Core Insight

LLMs predict statistically likely continuations. This produces text that applies to the widest variety of cases — which is exactly what makes it feel generic in a rebuttal. Rebuttal prose needs to be specific to this paper, this reviewer, and this concern.

Core principle: Every sentence in a rebuttal should only be true for this paper. If it could appear in any rebuttal, rewrite it.

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Quick Checklist (Apply in Order)

1. Cut Filler Phrases

Remove throat-clearing openers and emphasis crutches that add length without adding meaning.

Common AI openers to remove:

• "In order to address this concern…" → "To address this…"
• "It is worth noting that…" → (delete or restate directly)
• "It is important to highlight that…" → (delete)
• "We would like to clarify that…" → "We clarify that…"
• "Due to the fact that…" → "Because…"

AI emphasis phrases to cut:

• "crucial", "pivotal", "paramount", "essential" (unless truly warranted)
• "delve into", "unpack", "dive deeper"
• "It goes without saying that…" → (just say it)

2. Break Formulaic Structures

AI tends toward predictable patterns. In rebuttals, these appear as:

| AI Pattern | Rebuttal Fix | |-----------|-------------| | "It's not just X, it's also Y" (negative parallelism) | Drop it; state Y directly | | "First… Second… Third…" for every single response | Only use numbered lists when the reviewer explicitly listed multiple concerns | | Em-dash reveals: "X — which shows Y" | "X, which shows Y" or split into two sentences | | "This represents a significant advancement…" | State what changed specifically |

3. Vary Rhythm

Check sentence length distribution in each response block:

• Three consecutive sentences of similar length? Break or merge one.
• Every paragraph ending with a confident one-liner? Vary endings.
• Mix short punchy sentences with longer elaborations.

4. Trust the Reviewer

Reviewers are experts. Do not over-explain or over-justify.

Bad (patronizing): "To ensure complete clarity, and so that the reviewer can fully appreciate our contribution, we explain in detail…"

Good: "To clarify: [the specific point]."

Bad (hand-holding): "It could potentially be argued that the metric might perhaps be considered somewhat limited in scope."

Good: "The metric has a known limitation: [state it]. We address this in Appendix B."

5. Remove Pull-Quote Language

If a sentence sounds like it was written to be quoted or highlighted, rewrite it.

Bad: "This represents a paradigm shift in how the community will approach [problem]."

Good: "The method reduces [specific metric] by X% over [specific baseline], enabling [specific application]."

6. Use First-Person Plural Correctly

Academic rebuttals use "we" — but AI-generated text often over-hedges or over-personalizes.

Too hedged: "The authors feel that it may be the case that…" → "We argue that…" Over-personalized: "We personally believe that…" → "We believe that…"

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Common AI Vocabulary in Rebuttals to Avoid

These words are statistically overrepresented in AI-generated academic text:

| Overused | Replace With | |----------|-------------| | additionally | also / and / (restructure sentence) | | furthermore | (restructure sentence) | | notably | (delete or be specific) | | it is worth noting | (just state the point) | | comprehensive | thorough / complete (or be specific) | | leverage | use | | utilize | use | | facilitate | help / enable | | demonstrate | show | | novel | (be specific about what is new) |

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Scoring: Is the Rebuttal Prose Human?

Rate each response block (0–10 points each):

| Dimension | 0 pts | 10 pts | |-----------|-------|--------| | Directness | Opens with filler, buries the answer | States the answer in the first sentence | | Specificity | Could appear in any rebuttal | References this specific paper, reviewer comment, or result | | Rhythm | All sentences same length | Mix of short and long sentences | | Tone | Defensive or overly formal | Collegial, confident, factual | | Density | Padded with acknowledgments | Information-dense; every sentence moves forward |

40–50: Ready to submit. 30–39: Needs targeted edits. < 30: Rewrite from outline.

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What NOT to Change

This skill only removes AI patterns. Do not:

• Alter technical claims or experimental results
• Remove citations or evidence
• Change {{placeholder}} tokens
• Modify quoted reviewer text
• Change the structure required by Stage 2 output format (the > **Reviewer's Comment**: / **Response**: block)

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Adapted from Claude Scholar's writing-anti-ai skill. Original authored by gaoruizhang. Based on Wikipedia: Signs of AI writing, maintained by WikiProject AI Cleanup. Source: https://github.com/Galaxy-Dawn/claude-scholar/blob/main/skills/writing-anti-ai/SKILL.md