humanizer

name	humanizer
description	Editor pipeline for humanizing content. ALWAYS USE before publishing any essay, blog post, or video script. Applies voice guides, AP Style, AI trope detection, and Writer.com review. Pipeline: (1) AI detection, (2) trope scan, (3) humanize + voice, (4) style check, (5) output.
disable-model-invocation	true
allowed-tools	Bash(humanizer:*)

Humanizer Skill

Purpose

Blog posts generated by AI can sound robotic, formal, or overly structured. This skill humanizes them by:

• Adding conversational transitions and voice
• Reducing repetition and redundant phrases
• Introducing personal perspective where appropriate
• Varying sentence structure and length
• Adding natural discourse markers
• Ensuring references are properly formatted and cited

When to Use

Use this skill when:

• A blog post feels too formal or robotic
• Posts need references added
• Content needs a more personal, conversational tone
• Posts are being prepared for publishing

Instructions

1. Read the Post

Read the markdown blog post completely.

2. Assess the Current Tone

Identify:

• Overly formal language
• Repetitive sentence structures
• Missing conversational transitions
• Lack of personal perspective
• Missing or incomplete references

3. Humanize the Content

Apply these transformations:

Voice & Perspective

• Add personal voice: "I think...", "What struck me...", "The interesting part is..."
• Use contractions naturally: "it's", "they're", "you'll"
• Include conversational transitions: "Here's the thing...", "But here's where it gets interesting...", "What this means is..."
• Add rhetorical questions: "Why does this matter?", "What's the real story here?"

Structure

• Vary sentence length deliberately
• Break up dense paragraphs
• Use bullet lists for key points
• Add subheadings for scanability

Tone Adjustments

• Replace "It is important to note that..." with "The key point: ..."
• Replace "One must consider..." with "You might wonder..."
• Replace "In conclusion..." with "The bottom line: ..."
• Replace passive voice with active: "The report found..." → "Anthropic found..."

Punctuation

• Remove all em-dashes (—) and replace with appropriate punctuation
• Use commas for clauses that need separation
• Use periods to split into separate sentences when it improves readability
• Never leave the gap as just a space—always use proper punctuation

4. Add References (If Missing)

Every post should have a References section at the bottom:

## References

- [Article Title](https://url) - Publication Name
- [Another Article](https://url) - Publication Name

If references are missing:

1. Search for the news articles mentioned in the post
2. Add proper markdown links with titles
3. Include publication name when relevant

5. Preserve Key Information

While humanizing:

• Keep all factual claims accurate
• Don't change dates, numbers, or names
• Maintain the post's core message
• Keep the existing structure unless reorganizing improves readability

6. Output Format

Return the complete humanized markdown post with:

• YAML frontmatter preserved
• Humanized body content
• Properly formatted References section

Example

Before (Robotic)

The acquisition of Vercept by Anthropic represents a significant milestone in AI development. It is important to note that Claude's performance on OSWorld benchmarks has improved substantially. One must consider that computer use agents represent a paradigm shift.

After (Humanized)

When Anthropic acquired Vercept, the headline was just acquisition news. But the real story? Claude's OSWorld benchmark performance jumped from under 15% to 72.5% in a year. That's not incremental improvement—that's a step change. And it matters because "computer use" means exactly what you think: the model sees a screen, clicks buttons, types into forms, and navigates between applications. Not through APIs—through the actual interface humans use.

References

The editor pipeline uses these reference files. Load them all when humanizing:

Reference	Purpose
scout-voice-guide.md	Scout brand voice, tone, personality
blog-voice-guide.md	AP Style + banned AI phrases
ap-style-guide.md	Numbers, dates, punctuation, capitalization
ai-trope-checklist.md	AI-typical phrases and structural patterns

Editor Pipeline (MANDATORY)

Always run this pipeline before publishing. No exceptions.

Step 1: AI Detection (Writer.com)

curl -X POST https://api.writer.com/v1/tools/ai-detect \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $WRITER_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"content": "YOUR TEXT HERE"}'

• If score > 0.7 → Content needs major humanization
• If score 0.5-0.7 → Apply trope fixes
• If score < 0.5 → Light polish only

Step 2: Trope Scan

Search for banned phrases:

• "Let's dive into" / "Let's explore" / "Let's unpack"
• "In today's landscape" / "In the ever-evolving"
• "It's important to note" / "It's worth noting"
• Em-dash count (>5 per 500 words = flag)
• Contraction ratio (<30% = too formal)

Step 3: Humanize + Voice

Apply transformations:

1. Read all four reference files
2. Add personal voice: "I think...", "What struck me..."
3. Vary sentence length (short + long + short)
4. Remove AI tropes from checklist
5. Apply Scout voice guide tone rules
6. Apply blog voice guide punctuation rules
7. Apply AP Style guide formatting

Step 4: Style Check

Verify:

• No em dashes (use commas, periods, or restructure)
• No Oxford comma
• Numbers: 1-9 spelled out, 10+ numerals
• Times: 3 p.m. format
• Percentages: 5% symbol

Step 5: Re-Run AI Detection

Iterate until score < 0.5.

Workflow Summary

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                    EDITOR PIPELINE                          │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  1. Writer.com AI Detection → Score > 0.7?                 │
│  2. Trope Scan → Flag banned phrases                        │
│  3. Humanize → Apply all 4 reference guides                 │
│  4. Style Check → AP Style + punctuation                    │
│  5. Re-detect → Iterate until < 0.5                         │
│  6. Output → Ready to publish                              │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Tags

blog, writing, humanize, content, references, editor-pipeline