by Kate Cannon
Have you ever drafted an email with an AI assistant and thought, “Wow, this sounds like an overly polite robot wrote it.” You are not alone. AI is brilliant at writing structure, clarity, and speed, but it tends to default to the same neutral tone and predictable phrases. The good news is that with a little intention, you can turn your robot into a creative partner rather than a boring word machine. The goal is not to hide the fact that you use AI, but to shape that assistance into something that is unmistakably yours. Consider these 3 tips.
Get Your Fingerprints On It One of the best ways to break the “AI sound” is to smear your assistant with linguistic fingerprints. You know, the distinct little habits you use when you speak? Maybe you start sentences with “Honestly,” or you sprinkle in rhetorical questions, or you have a favorite metaphor. Ask your AI assistant to include these quirks. Even better, give it an example paragraph of your real writing so it can mimic your cadence. When you combine your actual stylistic patterns with AI’s structure, the result feels less manufactured and more like a human brain was involved.
Give the First Draft a Glow-up
Another powerful trick is to intentionally change the draft after AI gives it to you. Add an unexpected analogy. Shorten a sentence to something punchy. Replace a standard transition like “Additionally” with something you would genuinely say in a hallway conversation. Insert bit of personality with a tiny joke, a moment of honesty, or a strong opinion. AI rarely volunteers boldness on its own, but it will embrace bolder ideas if you tell it to, and you can always add those touches yourself.
Help Your Robot Lighten Up
And finally, don’t be afraid to instruct the AI to break rules. Ask it to write in choppy fragments. Tell it to mix formal information with casual warmth. Tell it to imagine your email as a mini story, a quick movie trailer, or a note passed during a meeting. The further you move from a standard business writing prompt, the more creatively AI can support you. Stop asking for “professional emails” and start asking for “emails written in my voice that only I would send.”
With a little experimentation, an AI assistant can become less than a template producer and more of a creative amplifier in your emails. Let AI supply the scaffolding. You supply the spark. Together, you can build messages that feel thoughtful, memorable, and personable to actual humans!
Kate Cannon is a Regional Director of Sales for Jacaruso Enterprises with 15+ years of hotel sales experience. Known for her deep expertise in AI-driven sales strategy, Kate applies advanced tools and insight daily to drive smarter decisions and stronger results across her portfolio of hotels.