Chat Like a Bot

Conversational Al systems are growing in use—and key words frequently suggested by these tools are influencing how we speak

- by MELISSA FLEUR AFSHAR

AS MORE THAN 100 MILLION PEOPLE USE CHATGPT on a daily basis, research has found that such artificial intelligence tools are doing more to the way we communicate than just polishing emails.

In the first peer-reviewed analysis to test whether conversational AI systems are influencing how we speak, Florida State University's study showed that some of the words frequently suggested by these tools are surfacing more often in everyday spoken English, due to a “seep-in effect.”

The findings come as more surveys show a widespread adoption of AI chatbots, particularly among millennials and Gen Z.

Unlike previous spikes in vocabulary tied to world events or cultural shifts—such as “Omicron,” a virus variant, during the COVID-19 pandemic—FSU researchers found that terms commonly used by AI tools have surged since the release of ChatGPT. “We analyzed unscripted speech from popular tech and science podcasts before and after 2022, the year ChatGPT was released,” Tom Juzek, an assistant professor of computational linguistics at FSU and the study’s principal investigator, told Newsweek.