Pre-2010 Fiction Series Triggers Patrick McKenzie's AI Writing Detector

Pre-2010 Fiction Series Triggers Patrick McKenzie's AI Writing Detector · Digg

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3 posts, first seen 3h ago

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guppy@fingerfehler

@patio11 No shame in that. I have an Alistair Maclean on my desk right now. It's just that if I think something is AI generated, I can barely bring myself to skim through. Just feels weird.

12:32 PM · Jul 15, 2026

Evan Sandsmark@EvanSandsmark

@patio11 This is interesting and likewise the fact that all ≈pre-2022 writing is guaranteed to be AI-free. It must be pure human language and I guess enjoys whatever imprimatur that provides

1:22 PM · Jul 15, 2026

Rubicon@radienren

@patio11 Amazing anachronism. Feel like that could become a good series in itself; the AI that somehow got sent back in time to write fiction

12:40 PM · Jul 15, 2026

Jeannine van der Linden@kameraad52

@patio11 Which Claude had come up with? Um no. Which Claude also read, before you did, silly.

11:21 AM · Jul 15, 2026

Combined views

57.1K

3 posts, first seen 3h ago

748 likes35 comments

53 saves

3 reposts

Sentiment

Positive42.9%57.1%Negative

Positive Read

Some users found the pre-2010 fiction triggering Patrick McKenzie's AI writing detector amusing or interesting, while others dismissed the detector's reliability and voiced discomfort with AI-generated text.

Based on 7 visible X reactions from 38 accounts; directional sample.

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Commentary on X

guppy@fingerfehler

@patio11 No shame in that. I have an Alistair Maclean on my desk right now. It's just that if I think something is AI generated, I can barely bring myself to skim through. Just feels weird.

12:32 PM · Jul 15, 2026

Evan Sandsmark@EvanSandsmark

@patio11 This is interesting and likewise the fact that all ≈pre-2022 writing is guaranteed to be AI-free. It must be pure human language and I guess enjoys whatever imprimatur that provides

1:22 PM · Jul 15, 2026

Rubicon@radienren

@patio11 Amazing anachronism. Feel like that could become a good series in itself; the AI that somehow got sent back in time to write fiction

12:40 PM · Jul 15, 2026

Jeannine van der Linden@kameraad52

@patio11 Which Claude had come up with? Um no. Which Claude also read, before you did, silly.

11:21 AM · Jul 15, 2026

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truesteel@truesteel23

@patio11 AI writing detectors don't work

11:31 AM · Jul 15, 2026

Luba Lesiva@loobah_l

@patio11 What genre is it?

1:48 PM · Jul 15, 2026

Patrick McKenzie@patio11

It’s sometimes at longer-than-sentence length, too. Once it used a plot device Claude had come up with which I thought, when Claude tried, “Well, clever and designed to be emotionally moving, but if you had embodied experience you’d realize that’s impossible even in fantasy.”

10:52 AM · Jul 15, 2026

Patrick McKenzie@patio11

There is a particular fiction series I’m reading, name withheld to avoid causing someone embarrassment, and it routinely sets my AI Writing Tells detector to maximum. The publication dates are pre-2010 in the three I’ve read so far.

10:49 AM · Jul 15, 2026

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truesteel@truesteel23

@patio11 AI writing detectors don't work

11:31 AM · Jul 15, 2026

Luba Lesiva@loobah_l

@patio11 What genre is it?

1:48 PM · Jul 15, 2026

Patrick McKenzie@patio11

10:52 AM · Jul 15, 2026

Patrick McKenzie@patio11

10:49 AM · Jul 15, 2026

Patrick McKenzie@patio11

Am I getting hypersensitized to generic somewhat trope-y English constructions? Have I accidentally discovered a gravity well that got replicated in the weights? Not sure.

10:50 AM · Jul 15, 2026

53 saves

3 reposts

Sentiment

Positive42.9%57.1%Negative

Positive Read

Based on 7 visible X reactions from 38 accounts; directional sample.

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Ask a question below.

Published answers will appear here.

Patrick McKenzie@patio11

Am I getting hypersensitized to generic somewhat trope-y English constructions? Have I accidentally discovered a gravity well that got replicated in the weights? Not sure.

10:50 AM · Jul 15, 2026