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AI is changing how we write and speak

Axios · · 412 words · By Josephine Walker
AI impact on human cognition and creativity Linguistic standardization

The article discusses research from the University of Southern California and the Max Planck Institute suggesting that AI is standardizing human writing and speech. Experts express concern that the pursuit of AI-style polish is eroding linguistic diversity and authentic individual expression.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://axios.com/2026/05/02/ai-changing-writing-speaking

analyticsAnalysis

30%
Propaganda Score
confidence: 95%
Minor concerns. Some persuasive language detected, but largely factual.

psychologyDetected Techniques

warning
Loaded Language 90% confidence
Using words with strong emotional connotations to influence an audience.
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Exaggeration / Hyperbole 70% confidence
Overstating facts or claims to create a stronger emotional response.

fact_checkFact-Check Results

8 claims extracted and verified against multiple sources including cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia.

check_circle Corroborated 3
info Single Source 3
verified Verified By Reference 2
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“Researchers found that AI pushes users toward a more standardized speaking and writing style, reducing variations in sentence structure and vocabulary.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple web search results confirm the finding that AI pushes users toward a standardized style, reducing variation in sentence structure and vocabulary.
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web search NEUTRAL — AI and Academic Writing - Taylor & Francis Online.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/2331186X.2023.2…
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web search NEUTRAL — Sentence structure and predictability: AI-generated text often follows consistent patterns, whereas human writing tends to be more varied and unpredictable. Repetition and uniformity: AI models freque…
https://www.grammarly.com/blog/ai/how-do-ai-detectors-work/
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web search NEUTRAL — The big picture: Researchers found that AI pushes users toward a more standardized speaking and writing style, reducing variations in sentence structure and vocabulary.
https://www.axios.com/2026/05/02/ai-changing-writing-speakin…
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“The University of Southern California study analyzed scientific journals, local news articles and social media and found writing style diversity dropped sharply after ChatGPT's release.”
CORROBORATED
The claim is reported by ZeroHedge and another web source ('How AI is reshaping human writing style and voice') as a study conducted by the University of Southern California analyzing scientific journals, local news, and social media.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Ashish Vaswani is an Indian computer scientist and entrepreneur. He conducted research at Google Brain, co-founded Adept AI, and, as of 2025, was co-founder and chief executive officer of Essential AI…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashish_Vaswani
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — A chatbot (originally chatterbot) is a software application or web interface designed to converse through text or speech. Modern chatbots are typically online and use generative artificial intelligenc…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chatbot
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — In the field of artificial intelligence (AI), a hallucination or artificial hallucination (also called bullshitting, confabulation, or delusion) is a response generated by AI that contains false or mi…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hallucination_(artificial_inte…
+ 3 more evidence sources
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“ChatGPT's favored words — such as "delve," "meticulous," "boast" and "comprehend" — are showing up more in everyday conversation, researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development found after reviewing 740,249 hours of content.”
CORROBORATED
Two independent sources (ZeroHedge and The Verge) confirm the Max Planck Institute for Human Development's research regarding ChatGPT's favored words appearing more in everyday conversation, with ZeroHedge specifically citing the 740,000+ hours of content.
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web search NEUTRAL — Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development analyzed more than 740,000 hours of spoken and written material and found that certain words commonly associated with ChatGPT responses ar…
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/rise-ai-writing-and-declin…
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web search NEUTRAL — The Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin has conducted research on the impact of ChatGPT on human speech by analyzing 280,000 academic YouTube videos.
https://lamag.com/news/losing-our-voice-the-human-cost-of-ai…
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web search NEUTRAL — The researchers ruled out other possible change points before ChatGPT’s release and confirmed these words align with those the model favors, as established in an earlier study comparing 10,000 human- …
https://www.theverge.com/openai/686748/chatgpt-linguistic-im…
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“Morteza Dehghani, a USC professor who oversaw the study”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
Wikipedia and the USC Dornsife official site confirm Morteza Dehghani is a professor of Psychology and Computer Science at the University of Southern California.
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web search NEUTRAL — Morteza Dehghani is an Iranian-American psychologist and computer scientist who is a professor of Psychology and Computer Science at the University of Southern California (USC).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morteza_Dehghani
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web search NEUTRAL — The University of Southern California study analyzed scientific journals, local news articles and social media and found writing style diversity dropped sharply after ChatGPT's release. ChatGPT's favo…
https://www.axios.com/2026/05/02/ai-changing-writing-speakin…
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web search NEUTRAL — Morteza Dehghani. Professor of Psychology and Computer Science.Salehi, N., Dehghani, M. (2013). The Rich Who Have the Humility of the Poor: Effects of Culture and Power on Altruism. In the proceedings…
https://dornsife.usc.edu/profile/morteza-dehghani/
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“Alex Mahadevan, chief AI instructor at the Poynter Institute for Media Studies”
SINGLE SOURCE
LinkedIn confirms Alex Mahadevan is associated with the Poynter Institute, and Wikipedia confirms the institute's existence, but there is no second independent source explicitly verifying his title as 'chief AI instructor'.
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web search NEUTRAL — The Poynter Institute for Media Studies is a nonprofit journalism school and research organization in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. The school is the owner of the Tampa Bay Times newspaper a…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poynter_Institute
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web search NEUTRAL — · Experience: Poynter Institute · Education: Florida State University · Location: St. Petersburg · 500+ connections on LinkedIn. View Alex Mahadevan’s profile on LinkedIn, a professional community of …
https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexmahadevan
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web search NEUTRAL — Master AI in media — learn tools, ethics and strategy, and earn a Poynter certificate online. You’ll gain the skills to spot AI risks like bias, misinformation and hallucinations before they harm your…
https://www.poynter.org/shop/fact-checking-media-literacy/ai…
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“Emily Bender, a linguist at the University of Washington”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
Confirmed by the University of Washington's own faculty directory, a cross-reference from Jpost, and multiple web search results.
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web search NEUTRAL — Dr. Bender has a been a member of the faculty at the University of Washington since 2003. She is currently a Professor in the Department of Linguistics, an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Compu…
https://linguistics.washington.edu/people/emily-m-bender
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web search NEUTRAL — And a linguist named Emily M. Bender is very worried what will happen when we forget this.Bender is a computational linguist at the University of Washington. She published the paper in 2020 with fello…
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/ai-artificial-intell…
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web search NEUTRAL — Emily Bender (b. 1973) is a computational linguist at the University of Washington who has made foundational contributions to multilingual grammar engineering, linguistic annotation, and the critical …
https://www.computationallinguistics.com/Emily_Bender
+ 1 more evidence source
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“According to a 2025 Brookings survey, 32% of small businesses use AI for customer service and outreach”
SINGLE SOURCE
The specific statistic (32% of small businesses using AI for customer service from a 2025 Brookings survey) is only reported by ZeroHedge. Other sources mention different percentages (e.g., 36%), which does not corroborate the specific Brookings claim.
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web search NEUTRAL — According to a 2025 survey from the Brookings Institution, nearly one-third of small businesses now use AI tools for customer service and outreach, while 16% of individuals report using large language…
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/rise-ai-writing-and-declin…
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web search NEUTRAL — Thirty-six percent of small businesses already use AI for customer service. Among them, 74% report higher productivity, and 24% have actually shortened their workdays. That’s time you can put back int…
https://www.entrepreneur.com/science-technology/two-thirds-o…
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web search NEUTRAL — How do small businesses use AI for customer service? The most effective approach is an AI chatbot trained on your specific business information — your services, pricing, policies, coverage area, and F…
https://www.dreamcodelabs.com/blog/small-businesses-using-ai…
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“16% of individuals said they use LLMs for communication or social media [according to a 2025 Brookings survey]”
SINGLE SOURCE
The specific statistic (16% of individuals using LLMs for communication from a 2025 Brookings survey) is only reported by ZeroHedge and not corroborated by other independent sources.
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web search NEUTRAL — Dec 14, 2025 · In 2025 numerous countries—such as the United States, Canada, and Germany—installed new national leaders, and some transitions were contentious. Several African countries experienced co…
https://www.britannica.com/topic/2025-Year-in-Review
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web search NEUTRAL — 2025 (MMXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 2025th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 25th year of the 3rd millennium and the 21…
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025
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web search NEUTRAL — United States 2025 – Calendar with American holidays. Yearly calendar showing months for the year 2025. Calendars – online and print friendly – for any year and month
https://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/?year=2025&country=1
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.