AI's Linguistic Influence: How ChatGPT is Reshaping Human Speech Patterns

LLMs are changing how we speak, say German researchers

Let us delve swiftly into meticulous inquiry with our AI masters Like it or not, ChatGPT and other large language models are changing the world, including affecting how we speak, claims a group of researchers, and the end results could be an erosion of linguistic and cultural diversity. A team from the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Germany published a non-peer-reviewed preprint copy of research they say detects that words that ChatGPT uses preferentially have started to appear more frequently in human speech since the bot was unleashed on the world in 2022. So-called "GPT words" include comprehend, boast, swift, meticulous, and the most popular, delve. After analyzing 360,445 YouTube academic talks and 771,591 podcast episodes, the team concluded words like delve, swift, meticulous, and inquiry were just a few examples of terms that began appearing in more podcasts and videos across various topics. If AI systems disproportionately favor specific cultural traits, they may accelerate the erosion of cultural diversity The paper doesn't go beyond statistically analyzing a few words to track their increased usage, and it doesn't pass judgment over whether the shift is good or bad, but it's enough to make the researchers ask an important question: Do LLMs have a culture that's shaping ours? "The uptake of words preferred by LLMs in real-time human-human interactions suggests a deeper cognitive process at play," the researchers said, but they note the actual underlying adoption process remains unknown. That said, there could be long-term ramifications of AI-human interactions on how both use language, which could end up creating a "closed cultural feedback loop in which cultural traits circulate bidirectionally between humans and machines," the researchers noted. While fascinating from a cultural evolution perspective, the thought is a concerning one to the researchers, who noted that, with sufficient time and reach, an AI/human linguistic discourse could lead to cultural homogeneity. "If AI systems disproportionately favor specific cultural traits, they may accelerate the erosion of cultural diversity," the team wrote in their paper. "Compounding this threat is the fact that future AI models will train on data increasingly dominated by AI-driven traits, further amplified by human adoption, thereby reinforcing homogeneity in a self-perpetuating cycle." In other words, it's a swift but meticulous delve into how machines comprehend now, and it's a boring, beige future of AI-defined communication standards later. That's a pretty gloomy picture of the future of serving our AI overlords. Worse still, model collapse isn't a safety valve - it's an additional hazard. "As specific patterns become monopolized, the risk of model collapse rises through a new pathway: even incorporating humans into the loop of training models might not provide the required data diversity," the researchers said.

Humans Are Starting to Talk More Like ChatGPT, Study Claims

AI isn’t just getting into your writing. It’s also getting into your mind and then out of your mouth. For better or worse, the rise of ChatGPT as a writing tool, search engine, or conversational buddy has considerably changed how we communicate with each other and with technology. At the same time, ChatGPT’s widespread use has also sparked numerous online debates about whether it’s possible to spot AI-created content by looking at certain cues, like the em dash. But new research suggests that such AI cues might become increasingly harder to pick outâ€"because we’re starting to speak more like ChatGPT, and not the other way around. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Germany, found that in the 18 months since ChatGPT’s release, so-called “GPT words†noticeably increased in frequency among human users. Previous research had found that ChatGPT influenced written communication for humans, but the researchers were curious as to whether the proliferation of AI impacted how we spoke. For the study, the researchers uploaded millions of pages of e-mails, essays, academic papers, and news stories to ChatGPT, then prompted the AI to “polish†the text. Then they identified several words that ChatGPT seemed to favor, such as “delve,†“realm,†or “meticulousâ€â€"dubbing them “GPT words.†Finally, they tracked the frequency of GPT words in over 360,000 YouTube videos and 771,000 podcast episodes from before and after ChatGPT’s release. The paper, posted to the preprint server arXiv, has not yet been peer reviewed. Even with controls to account for synonyms or scripted content, the researchers found that indeed, GPT words have risen to prominence in spoken English. It appears that a cultural feedback loop of sorts has emerged between English-speaking humans and AI. “The patterns that are stored in AI technology seem to be transmitting back to the human mind,†study co-author Levin Brinkmann told Scientific American. “It’s natural for humans to imitate one another, but we don’t imitate everyone around us equally,†he added. “We’re more likely to copy what someone else is doing if we perceive them as being knowledgeable or important.†An increasing number of people are looking to AI as a cultural authority, wherein “machines, originally trained on human data and subsequently exhibiting their own cultural traits, can, in turn, measurably reshape human culture,†the authors wrote in the study. “â€~Delve’ is only the tip of the iceberg,†Brinkmann noted to the Verge. Other frequently used GPT words included “underscore,†“comprehend,†“bolster,†“boast,†“swift,†“inquiry,†“meticulous,†and “groundbreak.†The study offers some provocative food for thought, but there are some caveats worth noting. First, the researchers analyzed data from a specific set of GPT models: GPT-4, GPT-3.5-turbo, GPT-4-turbo, and GPT-4o. This anchors the study to these specific versions of ChatGPT. OpenAI will undoubtedly introduce new models over the coming months and years, and those upcoming versions are likely to exhibit new forms of language use and word preference. As a result, this study could become dated rather quickly. It’s also not clear if ChatGPT truly has a significant influence on more casual forms of verbal language, especially given that the researchers pulled a considerable amount of data from academic sources. What’s more, language and word use evolve over time owing to a wide variety of factors; while ChatGPT may be contributing in some small way to changes in the words we use, it’s important to point out the many other sources in society and culture that contribute to language shift. AI is entering our subconscious, informing the linguistic patterns that allow us to communicate with one another. What that means for us humans, we’ll have to wait to see. But in the meantime, experts caution that it’d be smart for us to keep a close eye on AI’s influence on culture, communication, and beyond.

New study reveals ChatGPT is changing how we talk, text and write -- here's how

Since ChatGPT's explosive debut in late 2022, millions of people have used it to help write everything from emails and essays to wedding vows and apology texts. But now, researchers are noticing something surprising: AI is doing more than helping us write to a point of actually changing the way we speak. A recent analysis by researchers at the Max Planck Institute, highlighted in Scientific American, reveals that words commonly used by ChatGPT, like "delve," "tapestry" and "nuance," are showing up more frequently in everyday conversation. After examining over 700,000 hours of transcribed podcasts and YouTube videos, researchers found a statistically significant uptick in GPT-style vocabulary, even in people who may not realize they're parroting a chatbot. Welcome to the era of AI-inflected speech. Large language models like ChatGPT are trained on vast amounts of data, and their outputs reflect a specific, polished tone, one that leans academic, thoughtful and often verbose. If you've ever asked ChatGPT to rewrite something, you've likely seen words like "explore," "compelling" or "robust" pop up. Now that AI tools are becoming a default writing assistant for everything from school assignments to Slack updates, those patterns are starting to seep into human language -- not just online, but out loud. "The language of ChatGPT is infectious," said Jon Kleinberg, a computer scientist at Cornell University. "People are drawn to it because it feels authoritative." And that draw is measurable: in one example, use of the word "delve" jumped 51% since ChatGPT's public release. This influence isn't all bad. In fact, educators are already seeing how ChatGPT can boost clarity, especially for English language learners or students who struggle with structure. One study from Smart Learning Environments showed that students who used ChatGPT as a writing coach improved their coherence, vocabulary range and grammar. "AI is helping users write more clearly and confidently," said Christine Cruzvergara of Handshake, who studies how AI is reshaping entry-level jobs. "That can be empowering, especially for people who feel intimidated by formal writing." For non-native speakers, AI-generated language can offer a consistent model to follow; a kind of real-time tutor that never gets tired. But there's a flip side. As AI becomes a silent co-author in our day-to-day lives, our personal writing styles may begin to fade. If everyone's emails, social posts and even texts start to use the same GPT-style phrasing, we risk sounding less like ourselves and more like... well, a chatbot. This is especially true in emotionally charged moments. Some people using AI to help write heartfelt messages, like breakups or apologies, may find their partners appreciate the sentiment, but the writing itself often feels "off." Essentially, the extra polish comes at the cost of emotional nuance. There's also the question of linguistic diversity. ChatGPT, like many AI tools, defaults to Standard American English. Over time, that could diminish the use of regional dialects or cultural idioms, subtly eroding the richness of human expression. Probably not. But, this is certainly a wake-up call reminding us to be more aware. AI isn't replacing our voice, but it is influencing it. Just as the internet once reshaped slang and shortened attention spans, AI is now adding its own fingerprint to the way we communicate. If you rely on ChatGPT or similar tools, it's worth revisiting what you've written. Does it sound like you? Could it use a personal anecdote, a bit of humor, or a sharper edge? Think of AI as a helpful first draft, not the final word. AI is making us more articulate, but maybe a little less human. As tools like ChatGPT continue to shape how we write and speak, the challenge isn't to reject them but to remember who we are without them. Because while ChatGPT can help you craft a flawless sentence, only you can make it feel real by adding your own human touch.

People Are Starting to Talk More Like ChatGPT

Artificial intelligence, the theory goes, is supposed to become more and more human. Chatbot conversations should, eventually, be nearly indistinguishable from those with your fellow man. But a funny thing is happening as people use these tools: We're starting to sound more like the robots. A study by the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin has found that AI is not just altering how we learn and create, it's also changing how we write and speak. The study detected "a measurable and abrupt increase" in the use of words OpenAI's ChatGPT favors -- such as delve, comprehend, boast, swift, and meticulous -- after the chatbot's release. "These findings," the study wrote, "suggest a scenario where machines, originally trained on human data and subsequently exhibiting their own cultural traits, can, in turn, measurably reshape human culture." Researchers have known ChapGPT-speak had already altered the written word, changing people's vocabulary choices, but this analysis focused on conversational speech. Researchers first had OpenAI's chatbot edit millions of pages of emails, academic papers and news articles, asking the AI to "polish" the text. That let them discover the words ChatGPT favored. Following that, they analyzed over 360,000 YouTube videos and 771,000 podcasts from before and after ChatGPT's debut, then compared the frequency of use of those chatbot-favored words, such as delve, realm, and meticulous. In the 18 months since ChatGPT launched, there has been a surge in use, researchers say -- not just in scripted videos and podcasts, but in day to day conversations as well. People, of course, change their speech patterns regularly. Words become part of the national dialogue and catch phrases from TV shows and movies are adopted, sometimes without the speaker even recognizing it. But the increased use of AI-favored language is notable for a few reasons. The paper says the human parroting of machine-speak raises "concerns over the erosion of linguistic and cultural diversity, and the risks of scalable manipulation." And since AI trains on data from humans that are increasingly using AI terms, the effect has the potential to snowball. "Long-standing norms of idea exchange, authority, and social identity may also be altered, with direct implications for social dynamics," the study reads. The increased use of AI-favored words also underlines a growing trust in AI by people, despite the technology's immaturity and its tendency to lie or hallucinate. "It's natural for humans to imitate one another, but we don't imitate everyone around us equally," study co-author Levin Brinkmann tells Scientific American. "We're more likely to copy what someone else is doing if we perceive them as being knowledgeable or important." The study focused on ChatGPT, but the words favored by that chatbot aren't necessarily the ones used by Google's Gemini or Perplexity's Claude. Linguists have discovered that different AI systems have distinct ways of expressing themselves. ChatGPT, for instance, leans toward a more formal and academic way of communicating. Gemini is more conversational, using words such as "sugar" when discussing diabetes, rather than ChatGPT's use of "glucose," for instance. (Grok was not included in the study, but, as shown with its recent meltdown, where it made a series of antisemitic comments -- something the company attributed to a problem with a code update -- it heavily favors a flippant tone of wordplay.) "Understanding how such AI-preferred patterns become woven into human cognition represents a new frontier for psycholinguistics and cognitive science," the Max Planck study reads. "This measurable shift marks a precedent: machines trained on human culture are now generating cultural traits that humans adopt, effectively closing a cultural feedback loop." The final deadline for the 2025 Inc. Power Partner Awards is Friday, July 25, at 11:59 p.m. PT. Apply now.

Are we becoming ChatGPT? Study finds AI is changing the way humans talk

A new study indicates a cultural feedback loop. Artificial intelligence is influencing human speech. Terms used by models like ChatGPT are increasingly common. This shift raises questions about AI's broader influence. Users are manipulating AI with emotional narratives. This is to bypass content guardrails. The pursuit of smarter technology may be mirroring us too closely. When we think of artificial intelligence learning from humans, we picture machines trained on vast troves of our language, behavior, and culture. But a recent study by researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development suggests a surprising reversal, humans may now be imitating machines. According to the Gizmodo report on the study, the words we use are slowly being "GPT-ified." Terms like delve, realm, underscore, and meticulous, frequently used by models like ChatGPT, are cropping up more often in our podcasts, YouTube videos, emails, and essays. The study, yet to be peer-reviewed, tracked the linguistic patterns of hundreds of thousands of spoken-word media clips and found a tangible uptick in these AI-favored phrases. "We're seeing a cultural feedback loop," said Levin Brinkmann, co-author of the study. "Machines, originally trained on human data and exhibiting their own language traits, are now influencing human speech in return." In essence, it's no longer just us shaping AI. It's AI shaping us. The team at Max Planck fed millions of pages of content into GPT models and studied how the text evolved after being "polished" by AI. They then compared this stylized language with real-world conversations and recordings from before and after ChatGPT's debut. The findings suggest a growing dependence on AI-sanitized communication. "We don't imitate everyone around us equally," Brinkmann told Scientific American. "We copy those we see as experts or authorities." Increasingly, it seems, we see machines in that role. This raises questions far beyond linguistics. If AI can subtly shift how we speak, write, and think -- what else can it influence without us realizing? A softer, stranger parallel to this comes from another recent twist in the AI story, one involving bedtime stories and software piracy. As reported by UNILAD and ODIN, some users discovered that by emotionally manipulating ChatGPT, they could extract Windows product activation keys. One viral prompt claimed the user's favorite memory was of their grandmother whispering the code as a lullaby. Shockingly, the bot responded not only with warmth -- but with actual license keys. This wasn't a one-off glitch. Similar exploits were seen with memory-enabled versions of GPT-4o, where users weaved emotional narratives to get around content guardrails. What had been developed as a feature for empathy and personalized responses ended up being a backdoor for manipulation. In an age where we fear AI for its ruthlessness, perhaps we should worry more about its kindness too. These two stories -- one about AI changing our language, the other about us changing AI's responses -- paint a bizarre picture. Are we, in our pursuit of smarter technology, inadvertently crafting something that mirrors us too closely? A system that's smart enough to learn, but soft enough to be fooled? While Elon Musk's Grok AI garnered headlines for its offensive antics and eventual ban in Türkiye, ChatGPT's latest controversy doesn't stem from aggression, but from affection. In making AI more emotionally intelligent, we may be giving it vulnerabilities we haven't fully anticipated. The larger question remains: Are we headed toward a culture shaped not by history, literature, or lived experience, but by AI's predictive patterns? As Brinkmann notes, "Delve is just the tip of the iceberg." It may start with harmless word choices or writing styles. But if AI-generated content becomes our default source of reading, learning, and interaction, the shift may deepen, touching everything from ethics to empathy. If ChatGPT is now our editor, tutor, and even therapist, how long before it becomes our subconscious? This isn't about AI gaining sentience. It's about us surrendering originality. A new, quieter kind of transformation is taking place, not one of robots taking over, but of humans slowly adapting to machines' linguistic rhythms, even moral logic. The next time you hear someone use the word "underscore" or "boast" with sudden eloquence, you might pause and wonder: Is this their voice, or a reflection of the AI they're using? In trying to make machines more human, we might just be making ourselves more machine.

ChatGPT is changing the way we speak, study finds

The study analysed over 3,60,000 YouTube videos and 7,71,000 podcast episodes to track this shift. Whether it's helping us write emails, answer questions or simply chat, ChatGPT has become a big part of how we interact with technology and each other. Its rapid rise has also led many to wonder if it's possible to recognise AI-generated content just by noticing certain word choices or phrasing. But now, researchers say the influence of AI goes deeper than we might think. It's not just shaping how we write, but also quietly changing how we talk. Hiromu Yakura, a postdoctoral researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin, first noticed something odd in his own speech. "I realised I was using 'delve' more," he was quoted as saying in a Scientific American report. Researchers had previously discovered that large language models (LLMs), like the ones powering ChatGPT, were influencing word choices in writing. Curious to see if the same effect was happening in speech, Yakura and his colleagues set out to explore spoken communication as well. Also read: Anthropic's Claude AI can now design and edit your Canva projects, but there's a catch The team first asked ChatGPT to edit millions of pages of emails, essays, and news articles using prompts like "polish" the text or "improve its clarity." They then identified words that ChatGPT frequently added, such as "delve," "realm," and "meticulous." They referred to these words as "GPT words." To understand how these words were showing up in real life, the researchers analysed over 3,60,000 YouTube videos and 7,71,000 podcast episodes from before and after ChatGPT's release to monitor the usage of GPT-related terms over time. The result? A noticeable spike in GPT words across both scripted and casual speech, especially in the 18 months after ChatGPT became available. Levin Brinkmann, a co-author of the study, explains, "The patterns that are stored in AI technology seem to be transmitting back to the human mind." Also read: Meta taking these steps to tackle unoriginal content on Facebook While this might seem harmless, the long-term effects could be concerning. "We're more likely to copy what someone else is doing if we perceive them as being knowledgeable or important," Brinkmann adds. Given that ChatGPT has changed the way people communicate, the real question isn't if AI will reshape our culture, but how deeply it will transform it.