5 Tips To Spot AI-Generated Emails In 2025

Are you looking for straightforward, actionable advice on how to spot if Artificial Intelligence (AI) was used to generate an email?

In this blog post, we walk through five tips that outline exactly how to spot if an email was generated by AI. The goal of this blog is to help you identify whether you're talking with a human or a machine!

1. Inconsistent Language Syntax

Understanding how to write and converse is a complex process that exponentially increases when you consider that there are hundreds of human languages and thousands of regional dialects.

In many cases, AI doesn't understand the regional context in which it's meant to speak. For example, does it assume the identity of an English speaker located in the UK, USA, or India? This lack of regional context can help you spot AI-generated emails. Let's talk about this in a bit more detail.

2. A Lack Of Any Imagery

Tools that integrate with Generative AI models to create emails don't typically have image-generation capabilities. Because of this, you'll notice that AI-written emails typically appear as a wall of text.

If imagery is used, it'll appear in a directly insertable position. For example, images may be appended to the end or prepended to the beginning of the email.

In rare cases, individuals may couple multiple AI generation techniques together to separately pair text with images. For example, a text-based Generative AI model can be used to create an email, with instructions to insert a uniquely identifiable variable at some point in the email. Once the email is generated, a secondary image-based AI model can be used to create an image that is then inserted at the position of the uniquely identifiable variable. However, this is very much an exception to the norm.

3. Use Of Rarely Used Characters

Most humans have a fairly basic vocabulary, and we typically stick to what we know. When it comes to the non-alphanumeric characters, the characters commonly used by humans are spaces, commas, and full-stops.

Generative AI models have a much larger vocabulary at their disposal, and it isn't afraid to use it! Often, when AI has generated text, you'll notice the use of semi-colons ";" and em dashes "—" used in sentence structures. Additionally, depending on the tone that an AI has been told to assume, there may be emojis in unusual positions as the AI attempts to convey its tone.

4. Mismatched Tone & Context

Often, when AI is used to generate emails, particularly for spam or cold-email marketing purposes, the AI is given specific instructions on how it should behave.

For example, in the initial email that's sent, the AI is commonly told to assume a friendly tone. In follow-up emails, this tone will then suddenly switch to stern or hostile.

While humans are definitely capable of sudden mood and tone shifts, it's also a common indicator of AI involvement. The key to spotting if it's an AI comes down to the context. If you've received an inbound email from someone you've never interacted with, and you're noticing a sudden shift in tone between emails, it's likely that they're using AI to auto-generate the emails and are using specific criteria based on interactions, such as response time to determine what tone is used.

5. Precise Email Delivery & Response Timing

Have you ever noticed that at specific times, your email inbox suddenly gets bombarded? Commonly, these times are at rounded points in the day, for example, on the hour or half past an hour.

If you receive emails from someone within +/- 3 minutes of these rounded times, there's a good likelihood that some form of automated email delivery technology is in use, which has scheduled the email to deliver at a certain time point. This tip is more something to be aware of rather than a tip to strictly follow, as most email automation technologies also support randomized delivery times.

Conclusion

The tips outlined in this blog are designed to be used in conjunction with each other. For example, if you receive an email that meets the criteria outlined in only one tip, it's not a solid indication of AI involvement. However, if you've received an email that meets the criteria of three or four tips, then a shaky guess becomes a near certainty.

In saying this, trusting your gut is always a wise move, and just because a human handwrote an email doesn't make it safe! If you ever receive unsolicited emails, always question the sender's motive, and avoid clicking on any links, downloading any attachments, or even responding unless you absolutely need to.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why Would Anyone Use AI To Generate An Email?

The simple answer to this is money. Email is an extremely popular tool for salespeople and marketers. Previously, emails were either handwritten by a human (which is extremely costly) or emails were generic and mass-sent to email marketing lists. With the current state of Generative AI, salespeople and marketers can now simulate and automate natural human interactions on an unprecedented scale. The net result is that salespeople and marketers are financially motivated to use AI so they can save money while simultaneously connecting with a significantly larger audience.

How Can I Stop Receiving AI-Generated Emails?

The best way to stop receiving AI-generated emails is to notify your email provider through the use of built-in report spam and phishing buttons. By reporting these emails, you help to notify your email provider of what emails they should filter out in the future for both you and their wider customer base.

Additionally, when an email is reported, your email provider also notifies the email sender of the report, and many email marketing automation tools count this as an unsubscribe action, so you'll also be removed from their email marketing lists for future campaigns.

Over time, by using these built-in report spam and phishing buttons, you'll find your email inbox becomes much less cluttered.