ChatGPT is changing the way we speak, study finds

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.”

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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.

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Ayushi Jain

Tech news writer by day, BGMI player by night. Combining my passion for tech and gaming to bring you the latest in both worlds. View Full Profile