Using LLMs such as ChatGPT not only creates an abundance of em-dashes (“—”) in our writing, but it also starts to affect the way we speak, as a new study shows:
“Words like ‘prowess’ and ‘tapestry,’ which are favored by ChatGPT, are creeping into our vocabulary, while words like ‘bolster,’ ‘unearth,’ and ‘nuance,’ which are less favored by ChatGPT, have declined in use. […] In the 18 months after ChatGPT was released, speakers used words like ‘meticulous,’ ‘delve,’ ‘realm,’ and ‘adept’ up to 51 percent more frequently than in the three years prior.”
“’We internalize this virtual vocabulary into daily communication,’ says Hiromu Yakura, the study’s lead author and a postdoctoral researcher at the Max Planck Institute of Human Development. […] It’s not just that we’re adopting AI language — it’s about how we’re starting to sound... researchers suspect that AI influence is starting to show up in tone, too — in the form of longer, more structured speech and muted emotional expression.”
In essence: We become (even more) homogeneous. <sigh>
