99.1% Bullsh*t: When AI Detectors Gaslight Real Writers
When AI detectors start gaslighting real writers, we’ve got a bigger problem than people think.
The Craziest Thing Just Happened
I was reading up on how traditional publishers are trying to detect AI-generated manuscripts. Perplexity pointed me to some of the tools they use, including one called Detect.ai You paste in your text, hit a button, and it spits out a percentage likelihood that your work was written by AI.
Naturally, I was curious.
I've been working on my next book, early drafts, deeply personal, character-driven scenes that I wrote myself, with no help from AI. So I dropped one in.
99.1% chance it was written by AI.
Excuse me?
I added my voice, my details, my humanity. It was original work. Mine.
Testing the System
Maybe it was a fluke.
So I pasted the opening paragraph of a blog post I wrote two summers ago about finding an owl feather. It’s full of metaphor, memory, atmosphere. Again: 100% me.
Again: nearly 100% chance it was AI-generated.
Give me a break.
Then I ran a quick experiment. I dictated a new three- to four-sentence opening to my novel, fresh out of my brain, no typing, no predictive text, and pasted that in.
26.7% chance it was AI-generated.
In other words: definitely human.
So now I’m thinking: maybe these tools aren’t detecting authorship as much as style.
A Much Bigger Problem
There’s a certain rhythm to AI-generated content. You know it when you read it: The polished cadence. The overly structured syntax. The “It’s not this, it’s that” format.
But here’s the problem: If clear, structured prose gets flagged as AI, we’re in real trouble. Because that style isn't exclusive to machines. Many of us, especially professional writers, naturally write that way. Em dashes and all.
We’re entering a new moral gray zone.
Who decides what “counts” as human expression now?
I write about the way tools built to help us are being weaponized in It’s Not You, It’s the Algorithm. How defaulting to distrust undermines the very creators we claim to value.
This is what AI literacy really looks like.
And let’s not forget: the applicant tracking system was supposed to help with hiring. Instead, it’s become a gatekeeping nightmare. The same thing is happening here, just in a new outfit.
The Witch Hunt Vibe
We’re living through a massive shift. People are scared. And when groups of people get scared, witch hunts begin.
Just look at LinkedIn.
There’s a rise in call-outs. People pointing fingers: “That post was written by AI!”
Subtext: “I’m better than you.”
“You cheated.”
“I caught you.”
And for what?
Clout?
Moral superiority?
A sense of control?
As a Lifelong Writer, I Call Bullsh*t
I’ve been writing my whole life. So when I paste my original work into a machine and it tells me it’s 99.1% likely I didn’t write it?
That’s insulting.
It also raises more questions:
What if I had used AI to help me polish for flow or detail, would the score go up?
Are these tools picking up fingerprints of past edits and hallucinating authorship?
And who benefits from these accusations?
I’ll be testing some of these questions and sharing what I find.
We’re All Living Through Loss
Every generation likes to believe theirs had it worse—or better. But nostalgia is a liar. The 60s weren’t magical. The 80s weren’t easy. The 90s weren’t a utopia.
We’ve always lived with uncertainty, grief, transition, and change.
But right now, our relationship with creativity, technology, and truth is on the table in a way it hasn’t been before.
This post isn’t about solutions. I don’t have a cute bow to wrap it all up with.
I’m not here to offer “you’ll be okay” pats on the head. That’s not my style.
What I Do Want
I want conversation. I want reflection. I want new questions and better decisions. The kind of conversations I offer during my scroll audits.
We’re in strange, beautiful, dangerous, electric times. And the tools are out there.
So now what?
If this resonates, or if you’ve had something you wrote flagged as AI when it wasn’t, I’d love to hear your story.