Spotting Empty Language in AI Feedback

Learning Objectives

By the end of this chapter, you will be able to:

1. Identify vague, unhelpful language in AI-generated feedback
2. Distinguish between actionable feedback and empty filler content
3. Improve your AI tool settings to reduce irrelevant output
4. Save time by focusing only on useful AI suggestions

Introduction

AI writing tools can produce mountains of feedback, but not all of it helps your writing. Much of what these tools generate is empty language – vague praise, repetitive statements, or generic suggestions that waste your time.

This chapter shows you how to spot this empty language quickly and train your AI tools to give you feedback that actually improves your content. You'll learn practical techniques to cut through the noise and focus on suggestions that matter.

Lessons

Lesson 1: Recognising Empty AI Language

Empty AI language comes in several forms. Here's how to spot the most common types:

Vague praise without specifics:

• "Great work!"
• "This flows well"
• "Nice job on this section"

Generic suggestions:

• "Consider improving clarity"
• "This could be more engaging"
• "Try to be more specific"

Repetitive statements:

• The AI repeats the same point using different words
• Similar suggestions appear multiple times in one review

Step-by-step identification:

1. Read each piece of feedback
2. Ask yourself: "What exactly should I change?"
3. If you can't answer that question, it's likely empty language
4. Mark these sections for deletion

Lesson 2: Finding Useful AI Feedback

Good AI feedback gives you specific, actionable suggestions. Here's what to look for:

Specific suggestions:

• "Replace 'very good' with 'excellent' in paragraph 2"
• "Add a transition sentence between paragraphs 3 and 4"
• "This sentence is 47 words long – consider splitting it"

Concrete improvements:

• Grammar corrections with explanations
• Factual inconsistencies highlighted
• Structural problems identified with solutions

How to evaluate feedback quality:

1. Check if the suggestion points to a specific location
2. Confirm the feedback offers a clear action
3. Verify the suggestion improves your content's purpose
4. Test whether you can implement the change immediately

Lesson 3: Training Your AI Tools

You can reduce empty language by improving how you communicate with AI tools:

Write better prompts:

• Be specific about what feedback you want
• Include context about your audience and purpose
• Set clear boundaries on the type of suggestions you need

Example of a poor prompt:
"Please review this content."

Example of a better prompt:
"Review this blog post for a beginner audience. Focus on clarity, sentence length, and whether the examples make sense. Ignore style preferences."

Fine-tune your settings:

1. Look for specificity controls in your AI tool
2. Adjust the feedback level from general to detailed
3. Turn off features that generate praise or encouragement
4. Set the tool to focus on your weakest writing areas

Give feedback to your AI:

• Mark suggestions as helpful or unhelpful when possible
• Note which types of feedback improve your writing
• Regularly update your preferences based on results

Practice

Take a recent piece of AI feedback you've received and work through this exercise:

1. Highlight empty language: Mark any vague praise, generic suggestions, or repetitive content
2. Count useful suggestions: How many pieces of feedback give you specific actions to take?
3. Rewrite one empty suggestion: Pick the vaguest feedback and rewrite it as a specific, actionable suggestion
4. Rate the overall quality: What percentage of the feedback actually helps your writing?

Keep this analysis to compare with future AI feedback as you implement the techniques from this chapter.

FAQs

How much AI feedback should I actually use?
This depends on the quality, but expect to use only 30-50% of AI suggestions. Focus on specific, actionable feedback that aligns with your content goals.

Why do AI tools generate so much empty language?
AI tools are trained to be helpful and encouraging, which often results in generic praise. They also try to provide comprehensive feedback, leading to repetitive or obvious suggestions.

Can I completely eliminate empty language from AI feedback?
You can significantly reduce it through better prompts and settings, but some will always remain. The key is learning to ignore it quickly.

What's the fastest way to scan AI feedback for useful content?
Look for specific locations (paragraph numbers, quoted text) and concrete actions (replace, add, delete). Skip anything that sounds like general encouragement.

Should I tell the AI to avoid giving praise?
Yes, if your tool allows it. Most AI writing tools have settings to reduce encouraging language and focus on constructive feedback only.

Jargon Buster

Empty Language: Vague, non-specific feedback that doesn't provide clear actions for improvement, such as generic praise or repetitive suggestions.

AI Writing Tools: Software applications that use artificial intelligence to help with writing tasks, including grammar checking, style suggestions, and content generation.

Actionable Feedback: Specific suggestions that tell you exactly what to change, where to change it, and often how to make the improvement.

Prompt Engineering: The practice of writing clear, specific instructions for AI tools to get better, more relevant output.

Wrap-up

You now know how to identify empty language in AI feedback and focus on suggestions that actually improve your writing. The key is developing a quick eye for vague, generic content and training your AI tools to provide more specific, actionable suggestions.

Start applying these techniques with your next AI writing session. Set up better prompts, adjust your tool settings, and ruthlessly ignore feedback that doesn't give you clear actions to take.

As you practice these skills, you'll spend less time sorting through irrelevant suggestions and more time making meaningful improvements to your content.

Ready to put these techniques into practice? Join our community of writers who are mastering AI tools: https://www.pixelhaze.academy/membership