Humanizer Formatting by Rule Patterns (19‑21): Removing Visual Noise from AI Text

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, 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 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):

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):

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, 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):

🚀 **Launch Phase:** The product launches in Q3

After (Humanizer-cleaned):

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 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):

He said "the project is on track" but others disagreed.

After (Humanizer-cleaned):

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, 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, which provides usage instructions and keeps the pattern list synchronized with the master definitions, and 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 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, 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 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 file provides a synchronized overview of these patterns for end users, while implementation details remain in the master skill definition file.

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