Marcos Silva
76 lines
3.9 KiB
Markdown
76 lines
3.9 KiB
Markdown
# Slop Tells
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A worked catalogue of the phrases that mark prose as AI-generated. The
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`unslop` skill greps the draft for each row and reports a fix.
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The list is heuristic. A page can match several tells and still read well;
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a page can match none and still feel corporate. Use this as a checklist, not a
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verdict.
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## High-frequency tells
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| Tell | Example | Default fix |
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|------|---------|-------------|
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| Ornamental hedging | "It's important to note that…" | Delete the preamble |
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| Breathless transition | "Let's dive in!", "Now, let's explore…" | Replace with the next fact |
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| Vague intensifier | "really", "very", "quite", "rather" (when not load-bearing) | Delete |
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| Symmetric padding | "X is Y. X is also Z. Both X's are…" | Pick the one that matters |
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| AI résumé | "With over X years of experience…" | Replace with the actual fact |
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| Performative caveat | "It's worth mentioning that…" | Delete or move to the conclusion |
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| Marketing tone | "seamlessly", "robust", "powerful", "leverage", "cutting-edge" | Replace with the specific capability |
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| Triplet | "fast, reliable, and scalable" | Pick the one that is actually true |
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| Heading question | "Why is X important?" | State the answer, not the question |
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| Sign-off | "Hope this helps!", "Let me know if you have questions!" | Delete |
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| Throat-clearing | "In this article, we will…" | Delete the article and start with the subject |
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| Mirror transition | "As we have seen…" | Replace with the actual finding |
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| Manufactured urgency | "In today's fast-paced world…" | Delete |
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| Generic closer | "To learn more, contact…" | Replace with the actual link or contact |
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## Mid-frequency
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| Tell | Example | Default fix |
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|------|---------|-------------|
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| Bureaucratic noun | "perform a verification of" | "verify" |
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| Nominalised verb | "the implementation of the feature" | "implementing the feature" |
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| Possessive hedge | "in our experience" | Drop unless backed by data |
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| Padded qualifier | "essentially", "basically", "fundamentally", "literally" | Delete |
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| Redundant pair | "each and every", "first and foremost", "any and all" | Pick one |
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| Process name as action | "we will be performing a build" | "we will build" |
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| Apology | "Apologies for the inconvenience" | Replace with the fix |
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| Hyperbole | "game-changer", "revolutionary", "paradigm shift" | Replace with the actual claim |
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| Cult of positivity | "We are excited to announce…" | Replace with the news |
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| Generic advice | "Best practices include…" | Replace with the specific practice |
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## Low-frequency (still flag)
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| Tell | Example | Default fix |
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|------|---------|-------------|
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| Anachronism | "in the year 2026" | Drop the year unless it disambiguates |
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| Self-reference | "this article", "this section", "as stated above" | Replace with the thing |
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| Passive that hides the actor | "It was decided that…" | "We decided…" |
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| Telegraphic metaphor | "drowning in data", "needle in a haystack" | Replace with the literal state |
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| Fake precision | "in 90% of cases" | Replace with the source |
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## What is NOT slop
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- Technical jargon used precisely (`asynchronous`, `idempotent`,
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`backpressure`).
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- Repetition for emphasis that the reader actually needs.
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- Headings that match a list of canonical section titles (`Overview`,
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`Steps`, `Verification`).
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- Code, command output, error messages, customer-quoted text.
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- Acronyms and abbreviations the audience knows.
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## Cluster detection
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Slop tends to cluster. A single slop line in 30 is a minor fix. Five slop
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lines in 10 means the author wrote the paragraph by stream-of-prompting; the
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whole section should be rewritten by hand. The `unslop` skill flags cluster
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sections as `rewrite-block` rather than proposing per-line fixes.
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## When to escalate
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A draft that reads well but uses a non-AAVE corporate voice should not be
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unslopped into something else; flag it for the author. The skill rewrites
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*slop*, not *voice*.
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