AI Emoji Detector

LinkedIn Emoji Detector

Flags AI-pattern emoji usage in LinkedIn drafts before they ship. Built on MagicPost frequency data (Feb 2026) showing lightbulb, rocket, sparkles, and recycling emojis appear 2-3x more often in AI-generated LinkedIn posts than in human-authored ones.

Pattern data from MagicPost LinkedIn analysis (Feb 2026, 220 engagement viral post).

When to use

• Before publishing any AI-drafted post or comment
• As a pre-pass before linkedin-humanizer (catches a tell humanizer doesn't fix)
• When the audit pass flags "feels AI" without a specific reason
• When auditing a backlog of scheduled posts for AI signature emojis

Input

Any LinkedIn text (post, comment, reply, DM). Optional: mode flag (--strict, --lenient, --score).

Output

• AI-emoji density score (0-100, higher = more AI-like)
• List of flagged emojis with frequency vs. AI baseline
• Suggested human-pattern alternatives (or removal recommendation)
• Verdict: "clean", "borderline", "AI-likely"

The three modes

Mode 1 — SCAN (default)

Walks the text, extracts every emoji, looks up each one in the frequency table at ../references/emoji-patterns.md, and returns a per-emoji report.

For each detected AI-pattern emoji:

• Show the emoji
• Show its AI-correlation frequency (e.g. lightbulb = 2.57%)
• Show count in the draft
• Suggest a human-pattern alternative or recommend deletion

Mode 2 — SCORE (--score)

Returns a single number (0-100). No rewrite, no suggestions.

Formula:

• Each AI-pattern emoji contributes frequency_pct * count * 10
• Cap at 100
• Bonus +20 if 3+ distinct AI-pattern emojis present (cluster signal)
• Bonus +15 if a single emoji appears 2+ times (repetition tell)

Verdicts:

• 0-20: clean
• 21-50: borderline
• 51-100: AI-likely

Mode 3 — SUGGEST

Returns a rewritten emoji set. Keeps the post's emoji count roughly the same but swaps AI-pattern emojis for less-correlated alternatives, or recommends removal where no clean substitute exists.

Strict vs. lenient

--strict

Flag any AI-pattern emoji at all. One lightbulb = AI-likely verdict. Use when content goes out under a personal brand that has never used emoji-heavy AI patterns.

--lenient

Flag only if 3+ AI-pattern emojis appear in the same post, OR if a single AI-pattern emoji repeats 2+ times. Use for accounts where occasional emoji is fine and only the cluster pattern matters.

Default mode is between the two: flag if score >20.

Non-negotiable rules

• Never auto-rewrite without showing the diff first
• Preserve emoji count parity if user wants emojis (don't strip and leave nothing)
• Capitalize all names in suggested replacements (HubSpot, Claude, etc.)
• If the post has zero emojis, skip the skill entirely and return "n/a"
• Don't fabricate "human" emoji frequencies — the human-pattern alternatives in ../references/emoji-patterns.md are emojis with sub-1% AI correlation, not emojis proven "more human"

Example

Input: "Excited to share our new feature 🚀 Game-changing AI ✨ Unlock your potential 💡 Let's go 🔥"

Output (default mode): Score: 78 / 100 — AI-likely

Flagged:

• 🚀 rocket (3.28% AI freq, 1 use) → consider 📦 or remove
• ✨ sparkles (3.11% AI freq, 1 use) → remove, no clean swap
• 💡 lightbulb (2.57% AI freq, 1 use) → 🪛 or remove
• 🔥 fire (1.31% AI freq, 1 use) → keep or swap to 🌶️

Cluster bonus: +20 (4 distinct AI-pattern emojis)

Suggested rewrite: "Excited to share our new feature. AI that actually works. Try it. 🌶️"

Files

• SKILL.md — this file
• ../references/emoji-patterns.md — full frequency table + human-pattern alternatives

Related skills

• linkedin-humanizer — runs after emoji detector to scrub AI vocabulary and rhythm
• post-audit.md (sibling) — broader pre-publish check (calls this internally)
• linkedin-post-writer — generates drafts that already avoid AI-pattern emojis