# Wikipedia: Signs of AI writing

34 Hacker News commenters recommended Wikipedia: Signs of AI writing and 0 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 10 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** A free Wikipedia guide to common patterns in LLM-written text, praised for going well beyond the em-dash rule. Some say it is fallible in the long run.

## Why people recommend it

- Covers many common LLM writing patterns (5 comments): "Wikipedia also has a great resource which covers many of the common LLM patterns" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48316504)) "There's a Wikipedia article with a nice list of LLM writing patterns" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47788534)) "the article in general covers a lot of AI writing styles" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46434719))
- Helps spot AI-generated text (4 comments): "The Wikipedia article on detecting AI writing is a big help if you need to calibrate your sensors" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47187440)) "is a good starting point. You start seeing patterns at some point." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47134532)) "everyone who is sick of reading generated text should read this" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46678189))
- Human-written, well-documented, maintained resource (4 comments): "Wikipedia's article "Signs of AI Writing" is a good read" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47788024)) "Wikipedia has an excellent article about exactly this" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47442093)) "a human-generated (and maintained) list" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47072400))
- Useful for improving your own writing (4 comments): "Wikipedia also has an exhaustive guide, though it's not fun finding tropes you use yourself" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47293898)) "you can also detect yourself doing these same things sometimes, and fix them" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47053568)) "This article on wiki has fantastic advice about ways that LLM writing fails" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46019353))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Mahjong: A Visual Guide](https://hackerapproved.com/p/mahjong-a-visual-guide.md): 9 recommend
- [Unsloth guides](https://hackerapproved.com/p/unsloth-guides.md): 8 recommend
- [Making Software](https://hackerapproved.com/p/making-software.md): 6 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Wikipedia: Signs of AI writing", https://hackerapproved.com/p/wikipedia-signs-of-ai-writing/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).