Cut "it's important to note" from AI text
The fact after the phrase is usually the only useful part. "It's important to note that the API rate limit is 60 requests per minute" is a rate limit of 60 requests per minute. Delete the announcement. The tool below does that for the whole family of prefaces.
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A real before and after
A short API note, run through the live pipeline on November 13, 2026. Slop score 69 → 0. The 60-request limit, HTTP 429, the Retry-After header, and "next quarter" were kept.
Before (slop score 69)
It's important to note that the API rate limit is 60 requests per minute, not 60 per hour. It's worth mentioning that bursts above that return HTTP 429. Importantly, the retry-after header is in seconds. This documentation should be treated as directional rather than definitive if we change the cap next quarter.
After the unslop tool (score 0)
The API rate limit is 60 requests per minute, not per hour. Bursts above that limit return HTTP 429, and the Retry-After header is in seconds. Treat this documentation as guidance rather than a definitive reference if we change the cap next quarter.
What we measured
We compared 300 AI answers with human answers to the same questions (67,773 AI words vs 65,983 human words). The stem that still shows up in 2026:
| Phrase | AI / 10k words | Human / 10k words | Ratio | AI answers with ≥1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| it's important to | 2.36 | 0 | 16.6× | 5% |
| important to | 3.39 | 0.3 | 7.8× | 7.3% |
Related prefaces to cut
- "It's worth noting that" / "it's worth mentioning that"
- "Importantly," at the start of a sentence
- "It should be noted that"
- Corrective disclaimers like "should be treated as directional rather than definitive" — a mid-2026 tell, covered in Wikipedia's signs of AI writing
Fix by deletion, not by swapping in a fancier preface. The sentence after the phrase is the sentence.
FAQ
Why does AI write "it's important to note that"?
The model is announcing that a point matters, instead of just making the point. Readers experience it as throat-clearing. In our 2026 study the shorter stem "it's important to" appeared 2.36 times per 10,000 AI words and 0 times in human answers — 16.6× the human rate, in 5% of AI answers.
Is the exact phrase "it's important to note that" still common?
The full phrase didn't appear in our 2026 AI answers. Models now more often write "it's important to" and then the rest of the sentence ("it's important to check the rate limit"). We still delete the long form, because it shows up in older drafts and in mixed text.
What else counts as throat-clearing?
"It's worth noting that", "it's worth mentioning that", "importantly,", "it should be noted that". Same job: a preface that tells the reader to pay attention. Cut the preface and keep the fact.
How do I fix it by hand?
Delete "it's important to note that" and capitalize the next word. "It's important to note that the API rate limit is 60 requests per minute" becomes "The API rate limit is 60 requests per minute".