Editors who handle a lot of submissions develop an eye for text that came out of a chatbot and went straight into a document. Often it isn't the wording that gives it away but the typography: a sudden rash of em dashes, curly quotes in a file that otherwise uses straight ones, odd spacing that breaks line wraps, or Markdown asterisks that never turned into bold. None of these are wrong in themselves, but inconsistency makes a piece look unedited. Here's what to look for and how to tidy it up.
Why AI output has distinctive typography
Chat interfaces render their answers from Markdown and typographic characters. When you copy the response, you may get:
- Typographic punctuation (curly quotes, apostrophes and dashes) instead of the plain keyboard versions your document uses elsewhere.
- Markdown syntax such as
**bold**,### headingsor- bulletsthat only looks right inside the chat window. - Special spaces like non-breaking spaces (U+00A0) or narrow no-break spaces, which behave differently from normal spaces.
- Invisible format characters such as zero-width spaces or joiners that can come along with rich-text copying.
Mixed with your own typing, these create a patchwork that careful readers notice.
The common tells
1. Em dash overload
The em dash (—) is a perfectly good punctuation mark, but AI drafts tend to use it constantly, often where a comma, colon or full stop would be more natural. House styles also differ: some use a spaced en dash ( – ) instead, and many web publications prefer to use few dashes at all.
Fix: search for "—" and review each one. Replace most with commas, colons or separate sentences, and make the remainder match your style guide.
2. Mixed quote styles
If your document was typed with straight quotes (" and ') and the pasted section uses curly ones (“ ” and ’), the difference is visible in many fonts and can break code samples or search-and-replace.
Fix: decide on one style. Word processors can convert all quotes through their AutoCorrect or "smart quotes" settings and a find-and-replace pass.
3. Leftover Markdown
Asterisks around words, hash marks before headings and hyphen bullets are a giveaway that text was pasted from a chat window without formatting being applied.
Fix: convert them to real formatting, or paste as plain text into an editor that understands Markdown.
4. Strange spacing and line breaks
Non-breaking spaces can make words refuse to wrap, leaving awkward gaps. Some pastes include hard line breaks at the end of every line instead of real paragraphs.
Fix: turn on "show formatting marks" (the ¶ button in Word; View › Show non-printing characters in LibreOffice) to see what's really there.
5. Emoji and decorative symbols
Check marks, arrows and sparkle emoji in headings or lists look fine in a chat but out of place in a report or article.
Fix: remove them or replace them with words.
A practical clean-up routine
- Paste as plain text (Ctrl+Shift+V or Cmd+Shift+Option+V in most apps) to drop hidden formatting.
- Run find-and-replace for em dashes, curly quotes and double spaces.
- Reveal hidden characters and delete any you don't recognise.
- Apply your own formatting: headings, bold and lists using the editor's tools.
- Read it aloud. Rhythm problems and repetitive phrasing stand out much more when spoken.
For step 3, a browser-based cleaner like claude-watermarkremover.com can strip invisible Unicode and normalise spaces and punctuation in one pass, which is quicker than hunting for characters you can't see.
Style is still your job
Cleaning up typography makes text look consistent, but it doesn't make it good. AI drafts often lean on predictable structures: three-item lists, "In today's fast-paced world" openings, and summaries that repeat the introduction. After the mechanical tidy-up, edit for substance:
- Cut generic openings and closings.
- Replace vague claims with specific examples or data.
- Vary sentence length.
- Check every fact and figure against a reliable source.
Be transparent where it matters
Many publishers, universities and clients now have policies on AI assistance. Tidying typography is ordinary editing, but it's not a way around disclosure rules. If a policy asks you to declare AI use, declare it.
Summary
Em dashes, curly quotes, leftover Markdown, special spaces and emoji are the typographic fingerprints of pasted AI text. Paste as plain text, standardise punctuation, reveal hidden characters, reformat properly and then edit for substance. The result reads as a finished piece rather than a copied draft.