I spend a good portion of my day in Google Docs. Between writing articles for Tom’s Guide, drafting chapters for my sci-fi novels and managing the endless administrative chaos of a family of five, that blinking cursor is the first thing I see in the morning and the last thing I see at night.
For a long time, I loved the "Ghost Writer" features powered by Gemini inside Docs — specifically Smart Compose. You know the one: you start typing a sentence, and gray text appears ahead of your cursor, guessing what you’re about to say. Hit "Tab," and it finishes the thought for you.
It feels like magic. It saves keystrokes and a ton of time. But recently, I noticed something annoying. The AI wasn’t just predicting English; it was predicting me. And unfortunately, it was predicting a tired, rushed and slightly sloppy version of me.
The problem with "Personalized" AI
We are trained to think that "personalization" in tech is always a good thing. We want Netflix to know what movies we like; we want Spotify to know our music taste.
But writing is different. When you are drafting an email or an article, you want to be the best, clearest version of yourself. You don't want an AI that simply mirrors your existing flaws.
Since the Smart Compose Personalization setting is turned on by default, Google’s AI learned my worst patterns and rather than editing, it's enabling in the following ways:
- The "Just" Trap: It started auto-completing my "softening" language (e.g., "I’m just checking in...").
- Passive Voice: It began mimicking my tendency to use passive phrasing when I'm tired.
- The Echo Chamber: Instead of suggesting the strong, direct phrase "Checking in on this," it would offer my usual, weaker "Just wanted to check in."
The fix: how to turn off the "mirror"
Disabling this feature forces Google Docs to revert to its baseline training — which is based on standard, high-quality, professional English. Once I turned off the personalization, the AI stopped trying to be me and went back to being a neutral, grammatically crisp assistant.
It takes exactly 10 seconds to change:
- Open a Google Doc.
- Go to Tools in the top menu.
- Select Preferences.
- Under the General tab, look for Smart Compose Personalization.
- Uncheck the box.
- Click OK.
Note: Keep "Smart Compose" checked so you still get suggestions—you only want to uncheck the "Personalization" sub-setting.
Why this makes you a better writer
Once I unchecked that box, the difference was subtle but immediate. The "Ghost Writer" stopped suggesting my specific quirks. When I typed the beginning of a messy sentence, it didn't offer a messy conclusion anymore; it offered the standard, grammatically correct path.
It essentially turned the feature from an Autocomplete tool into a Correction tool.
If I start typing a sentence and the gray text suggests something different than what I was planning to say, it forces me to pause. I look at the suggestion and often think, "Actually, that is cleaner than what I was about to type."
Bottom line
AI is at its best when it challenges your thinking, not when it blindly agrees with you. If you leave personalization on, you are training the AI to write exactly like you — flaws and all.
Don't let your word processor enable your bad habits. Turn off the personalization, and let the ghost in the machine push you to be a little bit sharper.
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