Are higher perplexity and higher burstiness always better?

Perplexity measures how predictable the words in a piece of writing are, while burstiness reflects how predictable its structure is.

Because human writing often scores higher for these measures than AI-generated text, it may seem like maximizing them is always better. However, in many cases, lower perplexity and burstiness can make a text easier to read and understand.

If word choice is predictable (perplexity), text becomes easier to read. Likewise, if the structure is predictable, it may be easier to skim. 

In fact, even poor writing (like spelling errors or run-on sentences) can inflate burstiness and perplexity.

For these reasons, the ideal balance depends on the context and purpose of writing. Still, these measures help tools like QuillBot’s AI detector determine whether something was written by a human or by AI.