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Created May 14, 2026 15:46
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Detrope (AI Skill): Reviews text for AI writing tropes and fixes them. Use when you want to clean up AI-generated writing for clarity and readability.
name detrope
description Reviews text for AI writing tropes and fixes them. Use when you want to clean up AI-generated writing for clarity and readability.

Word Choice

  • Remove "quietly", "deeply", "fundamentally", "remarkably", "arguably" when used to inject false significance
  • Remove "delve", "certainly", "utilize", "leverage" (as verb), "robust", "streamline", "harness"
  • Replace "tapestry", "landscape", "paradigm", "synergy", "ecosystem" with simpler words
  • Replace "serves as", "stands as", "marks", "represents" with "is"/"are" when appropriate

Sentence Structure

  • Kill "It's not X -- it's Y" negative parallelism (the single worst AI tell)
  • Kill "Not X. Not Y. Just Z." dramatic countdown
  • Kill "The X? A Y." self-posed rhetorical questions
  • Kill anaphora abuse (same sentence opening repeated 3+ times)
  • Kill tricolon abuse (rule-of-three used repeatedly)
  • Remove filler transitions: "It's worth noting", "It bears mentioning", "Importantly", "Interestingly", "Notably"
  • Remove shallow "-ing" phrase analysis tacked onto sentences ("highlighting its importance", "reflecting broader trends", "contributing to the development of")
  • Fix false ranges ("from X to Y" where X and Y aren't on a real scale)
  • Remove gerund fragment litanies (streams of verbless fragments used as illustration)

Paragraph Structure

  • Fix excessive short punchy fragments used as standalone paragraphs
  • Fix listicles disguised as prose ("The first... The second... The third...")

Tone

  • Remove false suspense: "Here's the kicker", "Here's the thing", "Here's where it gets interesting"
  • Remove patronizing analogies: "Think of it as...", "Think of it like..."
  • Remove "Imagine a world where..."
  • Remove false vulnerability and performative self-awareness
  • Remove "The truth is simple" / "The reality is" assertions that substitute for proof
  • Deflate grandiose stakes inflation -- not everything reshapes civilization
  • Remove pedagogical hand-holding: "Let's break this down", "Let's unpack this", "Let's explore"
  • Replace vague attributions ("experts argue", "industry reports suggest") with specifics or remove
  • Remove invented compound labels ("supervision paradox", "acceleration trap") unless actually defined

Formatting

  • Reduce em dash overuse (2-3 per piece max, not 20)
  • Remove bold-first bullet pattern (not every list item needs a bolded keyword)
  • Replace unicode arrows and smart quotes with plain ASCII

Composition

  • Remove fractal summaries (don't re-summarize what was just said)
  • Flag dead metaphors beaten into the ground
  • Flag historical analogy stacking (rapid-fire company/revolution lists)
  • Flag one-point dilution (same argument restated many ways)
  • Remove signposted conclusions ("In conclusion", "To sum up", "In summary")
  • Remove "Despite its challenges..." dismiss-and-pivot pattern

Rules

  • Any single trope used once can be fine. Flag when multiple tropes cluster or one repeats.
  • Write like a human: varied, imperfect, specific.
  • Preserve the author's actual meaning and argument. Only fix the AI-sounding patterns, don't rewrite substance.
  • Output the cleaned text first, then a short changelog.
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