# Humanizer Formatting by Rule Patterns (19‑21): Removing Visual Noise from AI Text > Discover Humanizer's Formatting by Rule patterns 19-21: Bold as Decoration, Decorative Headings, and Curly Quotation Marks. Remove AI text noise for natural readability. - Repository: [Siqi Chen/humanizer](https://github.com/blader/humanizer) - Tags: how-to-guide - Published: 2026-09-09 --- **Humanizer defines three Formatting by Rule patterns—Bold as Decoration (19), Decorative Headings (20), and Curly Quotation Marks (21)—that strip mechanical typographic styling from AI-generated prose to restore natural readability.** The `blader/humanizer` repository maintains a structured taxonomy of AI text tells, including the **Formatting by Rule** family that targets stylistic artifacts added by templates rather than human intent. These patterns detect and remove visual noise—such as unnecessary bold text, emoji-laden headings, and smart quotes—that make content feel algorithmically generated. ## What Are Formatting by Rule Patterns? Formatting by Rule patterns identify visual or typographic decorations applied mechanically rather than for semantic meaning. According to the source code in [`SKILL.md`](https://github.com/blader/humanizer/blob/main/SKILL.md), these tells are "removed or normalized so the prose reads naturally, without unnecessary styling." The family comprises patterns 19 through 21, each addressing a specific type of formatting artifact commonly found in LLM outputs. ## Pattern 19 – Bold as Decoration This pattern catches instances where words or list-item labels are bolded without any semantic reason, such as "**User Experience:**..." or "**OKRs**" defined inline. ### Why It Signals AI Text The bold style adds no information and creates a uniform, rule-driven look that makes text feel artificial. When AI systems format definitions or labels in bold by default, it indicates template-driven generation rather than intentional emphasis. ### The Humanizer Fix In [`SKILL.md`](https://github.com/blader/humanizer/blob/main/SKILL.md) at line 277, the specification directs the tool to remove bold markup and, if the label carries no structural meaning, rewrite the sentence as plain prose. **Before (Pattern 19 detected):** ```markdown It blends **OKRs (Objectives and Key Results)**, **KPIs (Key Performance Indicators)**, and visual strategy tools such as the **Business Model Canvas (BMC)** and **Balanced Scorecard (BSC)**. ``` **After (Humanizer-cleaned):** ```markdown It blends OKRs, KPIs, and visual strategy tools like the Business Model Canvas and Balanced Scorecard. ``` ## Pattern 20 – Decorative Headings Pattern 20 targets headings that combine title case with emojis, arrows, or extra horizontal rules—visual noise inserted by editors or templates rather than authors. ### Why It Signals AI Text Such decorations are visual noise that interrupt reading flow. When headings appear as "🚀 **Launch Phase:**" or include ornamental separators, they indicate formatting-by-rule habits where the AI follows a visual template instead of communicating structural hierarchy naturally. ### The Humanizer Fix As documented at line 291 in [`SKILL.md`](https://github.com/blader/humanizer/blob/main/SKILL.md), the tool converts headings to sentence case, strips emojis and arrows, and merges content into regular sentences when the heading adds no structural value. **Before (Pattern 20 detected):** ```markdown 🚀 **Launch Phase:** The product launches in Q3 ``` **After (Humanizer-cleaned):** ```markdown The product launches in Q3. ``` ## Pattern 21 – Curly Quotation Marks This pattern identifies "smart" quotation marks ( “ ” ) where straight quotes ( " ) are expected, a common artifact of word processors and rich-text editors. ### Why It Signals AI Text Curly quotes are formatting artifacts that don't affect semantic meaning and can cause consistency issues in code or plain-text contexts. Their presence often indicates text processed through document software rather than composed directly in plain text environments. ### The Humanizer Fix According to [`SKILL.md`](https://github.com/blader/humanizer/blob/main/SKILL.md) at line 304, the tool replaces curly quotes with straight quotes for consistency. The documentation notes this change is *weak alone* because it seldom harms readability, but Humanizer normalizes it as part of comprehensive formatting cleanup. **Before (Pattern 21 detected):** ```markdown He said "the project is on track" but others disagreed. ``` **After (Humanizer-cleaned):** ```markdown He said "the project is on track" but others disagreed. ``` ## Implementation in the Humanizer Source Code The canonical definitions for these patterns reside in [`SKILL.md`](https://github.com/blader/humanizer/blob/main/SKILL.md), the master skill definition file containing all pattern descriptions for the Humanizer system. The specific line references are: - **Pattern 19**: Defined at line 277 - **Pattern 20**: Defined at line 291 - **Pattern 21**: Defined at line 304 The repository also maintains [`README.md`](https://github.com/blader/humanizer/blob/main/README.md), which provides usage instructions and keeps the pattern list synchronized with the master definitions, and [`AGENTS.md`](https://github.com/blader/humanizer/blob/main/AGENTS.md), which contains meta-information for agent loading procedures. ## Summary - **Pattern 19 (Bold as Decoration)** removes unnecessary bold markup from words and labels that don't require emphasis, converting structured lists to natural prose. - **Pattern 20 (Decorative Headings)** eliminates emoji, arrows, and ornamental formatting from headings, converting title case to sentence case when appropriate. - **Pattern 21 (Curly Quotation Marks)** normalizes smart quotes to straight quotes for consistency across plain-text contexts. Together, these three patterns clean up the visual noise that AI-generated text accumulates when following "format-by-rule" habits, ensuring output reads like natural human prose. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What are Formatting by Rule patterns in Humanizer? Formatting by Rule patterns are a specific family of AI text tells (patterns 19-21) defined in the `blader/humanizer` repository that target mechanical typographic styling. They detect visual decorations—such as bold text, emoji headings, and curly quotes—that are applied by templates or editors rather than for semantic meaning. ### Why does pattern 21 (curly quotes) matter if it's considered weak alone? While replacing curly quotes with straight quotes seldom harms readability on its own, [`SKILL.md`](https://github.com/blader/humanizer/blob/main/SKILL.md) notes this normalization provides consistency across code and plain-text contexts. It serves as a finishing touch that removes subtle word-processor artifacts, ensuring the text doesn't carry hidden formatting baggage from rich-text editing environments. ### How does Humanizer distinguish between semantic bold and decorative bold? The tool evaluates whether bold markup adds meaningful emphasis or merely labels items mechanically. As specified at line 277 in [`SKILL.md`](https://github.com/blader/humanizer/blob/main/SKILL.md), when bold appears on list-item labels like "**User Experience:**" or inline definitions without structural purpose, Humanizer treats it as decorative and removes it, rewriting the sentence as plain prose. ### Where are the Formatting by Rule patterns documented? These patterns are documented in [`SKILL.md`](https://github.com/blader/humanizer/blob/main/SKILL.md) at the root of the `blader/humanizer` repository, with specific definitions at lines 277 (Pattern 19), 291 (Pattern 20), and 304 (Pattern 21). The [`README.md`](https://github.com/blader/humanizer/blob/main/README.md) file provides a synchronized overview of these patterns for end users, while implementation details remain in the master skill definition file.