deslop

# Deslop: removing the signs of AI writing LLMs have an identifiable writing style. Left unchecked, AI prose regresses toward the statistical mean: it smooths specific, unusual, verifiable facts into generic, positive, important-sounding filler. The result reads fluent but hollow - "slop." This skill is a field guide to catching and fixing those tells. ## How to use this skill There are two modes: 1. **Gate mode (default, silent).** When you are *writing* substantial prose, self-check the draft against the patterns below before presenting it. Don't announce that you're doing this; just produce clean output. 2. **Audit mode (explicit).** When the user gives you text and asks you to de-slop it, critique it, or check whether it sounds AI-written, scan against every category, then either (a) return an edited version, or (b) return a findings list with specific quoted offenders and fixes - match whatever the user asked for. For a full audit of an external file, read `references/full-checklist.md` for the exhaustive pattern list with examples. The summary below covers the high-frequency offenders that catch ~90% of slop. ## Critical mindset - **The patterns are signals, not crimes.** Humans write some of these too (blogs, editorials, press releases). The presence of one phrase doesn't condemn a text; a *cluster* of them is the tell. Don't mechanically purge every "however." - **Fixing the surface tic is not the goal - fixing the underlying emptiness is.** Deleting the word "...