Telling that an article was written by AI is easier than it sounds, and the tells are structural rather than stylistic. Six of them below, with examples taken apart line by line — and an uncomfortable question at the end about this post.
Artificial intelligence has become an incredible writing tool for Chicago Real Estate Brokers. However,..
In fact, it’s gotten so good that most readers can’t immediately tell whether an article was written by a person, AI, or some combination of the two.
This article is not intended to steer you one way or another. I am. just giving you some things to think about as your Chicago Real Estate business finds its footing in this new experience.
AI has habits
After reading literally hundreds of real estate articles over the past year, I’ve started noticing the same patterns over and over again. None of these hints proves AI wrote an article, but when you see several of them together, there’s a good chance artificial intelligence played a significant role which is fantastic for all in small doses.
This isn’t meant to criticize AI. I use it almost every day. It’s simply about recognizing where the machine ends and where the human begins and giving credit where it is due.
1. The Double Dash
Let’s start with the easiest one
Spend enough time reading AI-generated articles and you’ll begin noticing the em dash (—) everywhere. Full disclosure: I had no idea that is what it was called until Thomas with Baird and Warner Lincoln Park taught the team. AI loves using it to connect ideas, interrupt sentences, and create emphasis.
Humans certainly use em dashes too, but generally much less often. In fact, they’ve become such a recognizable AI fingerprint that many writers now remove every one before publishing. Once you see it, you’ll never stop seeing it.
I always remove them.
2. Everything sounds fantastic, but you don’t remember any of it
This one is quite a bit harder to explain. You’ll finish reading an article on Chicago Real Estate and think, “Wow, that was really well written.” Five minutes later you can’t remember a single thing it actually said.
The grammar is flawless. The transitions are smooth. Every paragraph flows naturally into the next. Yet somehow it never surprises you. It never teaches you something unexpected. It never sounds like someone who has actually been there. That’s because AI is incredibly good at organizing information and most Realtors love anything that will do their job for them. Just a fact.
Experience is something different altogether. Remember that Brokers are hired because the client liked and trusted them. No their assistants talent for generating AI content.
3. Everything Is Blue and I have no idea why.
I honestly laugh every time I see this and it’s very prevalent. Search for AI-generated real estate images and you’ll find glowing blue homes, holograms floating over city skylines, digital brains, transparent laptops, streams of data, and enough electric blue lighting to power downtown Chicago.
Apparently AI believes the future has two colors colors, blue and gold.
The images aren’t necessarily bad. They’re simply repetitive. After a while you instantly recognize them before you’ve even read the headline. Ironically, the best real estate industry images usually aren’t futuristic at all. They’re authentic photographs that help readers imagine themselves living in the home because that is REAL LIFE.
4. Every Article Has the Same Rhythm
This may be one of the easiest hints to miss and frankly not that big of a deal. After you’ve read enough AI generated articles, they all begin feeling similar. There’s an introduction, a handful of organized sections, and a tidy conclusion that summarizes everything you just read.
To emphasize that thought, I will repeat it: There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that format or its content. The problem is that AI almost always chooses it. Imagine a baseball pitcher with a great curveball. It is the “go to” pitch and it gets used often. Hitters figure that out fast and make the needed adjustments to succeed.
People don’t that way. We tell stories. We interrupt ourselves. We remember something halfway through and come back to it. Sometimes we make a point before explaining why we believe it. Those little imperfections are often what make an article enjoyable. It has your name on it, right? You better make it sound like you.
5. AI does not want to be wrong
AI is remarkably cautious. Cautious may be the wrong word as it implies that it is making an emotional decision. It simply wants to give you the best information and is not concerned about how the market perceives your knowledge and if it looks redundant. AI is not looking back at your content and pointing out the obvious fact that you are not writing it.
It likes to explain both sides of every issue. It avoids making bold predictions and rarely commits to an opinion unless there’s overwhelming evidence. Us humans don’t write that way. Walk into a room with ten experienced real estate agents and ask where the market is headed. You’ll probably hear ten different answers.
Some will be right. | Some won’t.
That’s what makes reading another person’s thoughts interesting.
Experience creates opinions. AI creates summaries.
6. It Doesn’t Sound Like Anyone in Particular
After the em dash and blue images this one is another big hint if you pay attention. Take the author’s name off the article and ask yourself one simple question.
Could this have been published on almost any real estate website? If the answer is yes, AI probably did most of the heavy lifting.
The best writing has personality. It includes observations, humor, opinions, and details that could only come from someone who actually works in the business. You begin to recognize the writer, not just the information.
Add some sarcasm and humor to your content. That’s something AI still struggles to imitate.
What an article was written by AI looks like
Rather than just talking about it, here’s a simple real life example.
Imagine two descriptions of the same Lincoln Park home.
Version One
Welcome to this stunning four-bedroom, three-and-a-half-bath residence in the heart of Lincoln Park. This beautifully designed home features an open-concept floor plan, abundant natural light, hardwood flooring throughout, and a chef-inspired kitchen complete with premium stainless steel appliances, quartz countertops, and custom cabinetry. The spacious primary suite offers a spa-inspired bathroom and generous walk-in closet. Ideally located near shopping, dining, parks, and public transportation, this exceptional property combines luxury, comfort, and convenience in one of Chicago’s most desirable neighborhoods.
There’s nothing wrong with that description.
- It’s polished.
- It’s accurate.
- It’s also completely interchangeable.
Replace Lincoln Park with Bucktown, Dallas, Scottsdale, or Nashville and almost nothing else would have to change. It describes the features of the house, but it doesn’t tell me what it’s actually like to live there.
Now let’s try it again.
Version Two
The first thing I noticed wasn’t the kitchen. It was how much natural light poured into the front of the house without sacrificing privacy. The living room feels like somewhere you’d actually spend a Sunday morning instead of a room that’s only there for photographs. The kitchen naturally opens to the family room, so you can picture everyone gathering in one place instead of disappearing into separate corners of the house. Upstairs, the primary suite feels tucked away from the rest of the home, and outside you’re only a short walk from Oz Park, neighborhood coffee shops, and the tree-lined streets that make Lincoln Park one of Chicago’s most desirable neighborhoods.
- Did I mention the quartz countertops? No
- Did I mention the stainless steel appliances? No
- Any mention of the hardwood floors? No
- You can already see those in the listing photos.
Instead, I tried to describe what living there might actually feel like. That’s the massive difference.
AI usually describes a house. People describe a home.
Last Example, I promise
AI
This luxury residence features spacious living areas, premium finishes, designer fixtures, modern appliances, and seamless indoor-outdoor entertaining spaces perfect for today’s lifestyle.
Human
One thing surprised me about this house. Even though it’s over 5,000 square feet, it never feels oversized. Every room seems connected to the next, and nothing feels like it was built simply to impress visitors. It’s the kind of home that works just as well for a quiet Tuesday night as it does when twenty people show up for Thanksgiving dinner. The facts are similar. The feeling is completely different.
The Irony
By now you might think I’m against AI. Nothing could be further from the truth.
I use AI every single day. It helps me organize ideas, challenge my thinking, catch mistakes, and occasionally point me toward something I hadn’t considered.
After reading the article that AI has written, I tear it down completely and remove the points that I personally don’t agree with and add my thoughts. I remove the silly clichés. I combine paragraphs. I add opinions that come from actually working in Chicago real estate. I throw out the glowing blue images and make sure the article sounds like something I would actually say. AI isn’t replacing good writing, if anything, it’s making authentic writing even more valuable.
The future won’t belong to the people who let AI do all of the talking.It will belong to the people who use AI as a tool while making sure their own voice is still impossible to mistake.
Where to go next
- How AI finds current information
- How AI understands real estate websites
- The Chicago real estate AI benchmark
Source note: Google’s Creating helpful, reliable, people-first content sets out what is expected of published writing, which is the standard an article written by AI has to clear like any other.