How to Add Vivid Details to Your Writing Without AI
Writing Tip: ChatGPT lacks the sensory details that humans bring, since it doesn’t technically have “senses.” To differentiate your writing from AI, inject sensory details about what something feels like, sounds like, or looks like. Be creative, and draw on your own memories and experiences.
One of the more subtle but telling distinctions between human and AI-generated text lies in the absence of sensory detail.
Humans experience the world through senses —sight, sound, smell, touch, and taste. These sensory experiences fundamentally shape our perceptions and memories, and they naturally weave into storytelling and descriptive writing.AI operates without these sensory experiences. Any sensory details it reports are collected second-hand, based on the data from which it draws. It doesn't "see" a sunset in hues of orange and pink, nor does it "feel" the warmth of sunlight on skin. This lack of intimate sensory experience provides descriptions that, while technically accurate, miss the nuanced layers of immersion that human writing conveys. For example, when asked, “What is your favorite food?”, ChatGPT responds:
If I could have a favorite food, it might be data—since that's what I "consume" and process to help answer questions and generate responses. But in the spirit of your question, I like to think about it in terms of the vast array of cuisines and dishes I know about. From spicy curries to sweet pastries, the world's foods are as diverse and fascinating as the cultures they come from. Each dish tells a story, reflects a tradition, or showcases an ingredient in a unique way, which is quite delightful to learn and talk about.
Yes, technically the AI references curries that are spicy and pastries that are sweet. But you can’t feel the description. It doesn’t make you hungry or make you remember your favorite foods.
Contrast that with this description of food from To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf: “And she peered into the dish, with its shiny walls and its confusion of savory brown and yellow meats and its bay leaves and its wine, and thought, This will celebrate the occasion – a curious sense rising in her, at once freakish and tender, of celebrating a festival.”
AI writing is detached or abstract compared to the above. An AI's description will probably focus more on factual accuracy and general descriptors, versus bringing a scene vividly to life through the senses. Recognizing and compensating for this gap is crucial for AI-assisted writers looking to resonate on a more human level.
