ai-tells-review

AI Tells — Structural Review

A judgment-based pass that catches the subtle tells the surface scan misses. Cite each finding, name the family, suggest a fix-direction. Then offer to rewrite.

When To Use

• Public-facing artifacts: READMEs, shipped docs, blog posts, release notes
• Technical writing where the prose itself is the deliverable
• After ai-tells-scan has already stripped the obvious tokens
• When a draft "reads AI" but you can't articulate why
• Before publishing anything Nick wouldn't want attributed to a machine

Skip when: the artifact is internal-only and nobody cares, or the user only wants the mechanical pass (ai-tells-scan is enough).

Workflow

1. Read the artifact end to end. Don't pattern-match line by line yet. Get the rhythm and shape first.
2. Run the four-family rubric below. For each tell found, note: line(s), family, why it reads as a tell, fix-direction.
3. Produce the findings report in the structure under "Output Shape."
4. Offer the rewrite explicitly: "Want me to do a pass that fixes these?"
5. If yes, rewrite preserving structure and content. Don't change what the doc is saying — change how it's saying it.

The user can stop at the report. Don't rewrite without explicit consent.

The Four-Family Rubric

1. Structural Reflexes

Default shapes the model reaches for regardless of fit.

• Aphoristic closer. Sentence trying to land like a punchline at the end of a section. Examples: "Premature alerts produce numbness." / "the auditor is always ahead." / "No artefact, no promotion." Fix-direction: end on the substantive point, not the epigram.
• Definitional opener. Every section starts "X is a Y that…" even when X was already established. Fix-direction: start with the action or the question instead.
• Echo paragraph. Paragraph N+1 restates paragraph N with synonyms. Fix-direction: delete one. Usually the second.
• Summary-of-summary closer. "In essence…" / "Ultimately…" wrapping up what was just said. Fix-direction: delete the closer; the section already ended.
• Over-signposting. "There are three things to consider. First…" when headers already do this. Fix-direction: delete the meta-narration.
• Self-narration. Prose commenting on what the doc is doing: "That's the dashboard's reason for existing." / "(this is where we start)" inside a diagram. Fix-direction: let the doc do the thing instead of describing itself.
• Decision-stamp formality. **Decided 2026-05-18:** court-ruling style in personal notes. Fix-direction: drop the stamp; state the decision in prose.
• Labeled callback scheme. Q1–Q6, Layer 1/2/3, deliberately numbered cross-refs in a doc that didn't need them. Fix-direction: use names, not numbers; let prose carry the references.

2. Tonal Hedging

The model softens and balances by default, regardless of whether the topic warrants it.

• Manufactured both-sidesing. "However" / "That said" inserted to fake balance the topic doesn't need. Fix-direction: state the position; delete the hedge.
• "Worth noting" filler. Hedge phrases delaying the actual claim. Fix-direction: delete and lead with the claim.
• Reassuring middle. "This is normal / expected / fine" inserted where no one was worried. Fix-direction: delete unless the reader is genuinely likely to be alarmed.
• Equivocation-as-wisdom. "It depends" expanded into a fake decision framework. Fix-direction: if there's a real answer, give it. If it depends, name the one or two axes that actually matter.
• Earnest-explainer parentheticals. "(verified 2026-05-18)" / "(modulo any drift)" / "(per CLAUDE.md)" cross-refs everywhere. Fix-direction: trust the reader; integrate critical context into the sentence or delete the parenthetical.

3. Performative Emphasis

Signaling importance instead of being clear.

• Concept-puffing. Capitalizing ordinary words to make them feel like Concepts. Fix-direction: lowercase unless it's a proper noun or term-of-art.
• Empty positive adverbs. "elegantly," "seamlessly," "gracefully" attached to verbs. Fix-direction: delete the adverb. If the property matters, name it.
• Performative TL;DR. "Short answer:" decorating a response that wasn't long. Fix-direction: delete the label; the answer is the answer.
• Aspirational close. Ending on what could / might be done — forward-looking platitude. Fix-direction: end on what was done, or on the next concrete step.
• Contrastive bold. "This is not X — it's Y" / mirrored "Why not pure JSON: / Why not pure scriptblocks:" sections. Fix-direction: state the position directly. Delete the foil unless someone actually argued for it.
• Italicized rhetorical emphasis. Italics on ordinary words for tone, not for terms. Fix-direction: delete italics; if emphasis is essential, restructure the sentence.

4. Rhythm Patterns

The cadence itself is the tell.

• Uniform sentence length. Paragraphs where every sentence lands at ~15 words. Fix-direction: combine two short sentences into one long one, or break a long one into two short ones. Vary deliberately.
• Gerund cascade. "Building on this… Taking this further… Considering these factors…" Fix-direction: rewrite as concrete actions with subjects.
• Paragraph-level parallelism. Every paragraph opens with the same grammatical shape. Fix-direction: vary the openers — start one with a question, one with the subject, one with the verb.
• Coined-phrase tic. A minted phrase repeated 3+ times across the doc ("proves the framework" / "earns its place" / "5-second glance"). Fix-direction: keep the first use; rephrase the rest.
• Tricolon cadence at scale. Not just one three-item list — every list is three items, every emphasized sentence has three clauses. Fix-direction: break the pattern. Use twos and fours when they fit.

---

Output Shape

Produce the report in this structure. Cite line numbers when feasible.

# AI Tells Review: <doc-name>

**Verdict:** <reads-clean | minor-tells | reads-AI | reads-very-AI>

## Findings

### Family 1: Structural Reflexes

- **Line 42** — Aphoristic closer: "Premature alerts produce numbness."
  _Fix-direction:_ end the section on the substantive point about alert volume, not the epigram.
- **Line 88** — Self-narration: "That's the dashboard's reason for existing."
  _Fix-direction:_ delete; the preceding paragraph already established this.

### Family 2: Tonal Hedging

- **Line 17, 34, 61** — Earnest-explainer parentheticals: "(per CLAUDE.md)", "(modulo any drift)", "(verified 2026-05-18)"
  _Fix-direction:_ drop all three. If timestamps matter, put them in a footer; otherwise delete.

### Family 3: Performative Emphasis

- **Line 12** — Contrastive bold: "This is not a generic 'service health' dashboard — every panel earns its place..."
  _Fix-direction:_ lead with what the dashboard is, not what it isn't.

### Family 4: Rhythm Patterns

- **Throughout** — Coined-phrase tic: "proves the framework" appears 3 times in rows 1, 2, and 5.
  _Fix-direction:_ keep the first; rephrase the second and third.

## Summary

<2-3 sentence assessment of which families dominate and what kind of pass would help most>

## Offer

Want me to do a rewrite pass that addresses these? I'll preserve structure
and content; only the prose changes.

Rewrite Constraints

If the user accepts the rewrite offer:

• Preserve all structural elements. Headings, code blocks, tables, lists — leave the skeleton alone.
• Preserve all factual claims. Don't add new content; don't drop content. Only rephrase.
• Preserve technical precision. Don't soften "FIPS 140-2 compliant" into "secure"; don't turn "Postgres 14" into "the database."
• Vary cadence deliberately. If the original was uniform, mix sentence lengths. If parallel, vary openers.
• Show the diff at the end. Brief summary of what changed and why, organized by family. Not a line-by-line; a 3-5 bullet summary.

What This Skill Does Not Do

• Replace ai-tells-scan for the surface pass (run that first, or accept that obvious tells will appear in the report).
• Add a target voice. For voice work (Nick's voice, brand voice), use nick-voice or the brand's voice skill after this pass.
• Verify factual claims. Use doc-claim-validator for that.
• Critique information architecture or completeness. Use doc-architecture-review or doc-completeness-audit.

This skill subtracts machine fingerprints. That's the whole job.