This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: A Facebook post about your trip to Peru. An Amazon review of a new toaster oven.
An email to the super about the inflatable reindeer blocking the hallway. You phrase and rephrase things all day without thinking that anyone—or anything—is putting words in your mouth. But what happens when AI joins the conversation?
Are chatbots changing the way you write, talk and interact with others? Three Northeastern University experts—Khoury College of Computer Sciences professor Terra Blevins, a professor at the Network Science Institute at Northeastern University London Sofia Teixeira and linguistics professor Heather Littlefield—offer their insights about language in the age of AI. "There's no preventing language change," Littlefield said, calling it a "living thing." "During COVID, we had a whole lot of new words come in.
Within six to 12 months, the pandemic had produced a lingo of its own. Take WFH (work from home), social distancing and lockdown, for instance. Words like "delve," "essential" and "insight" have become "a fingerprint of AI language," Teixeira said.
While not new, they've been popping up more frequently, especially in writing. So have metaphors comparing things to tapestries or symphonies—a chatbot fixation, she said. But is AI rubbing off on people or simply doing the work for them?
Experts say a bit of both, but telling the difference is tricky. Vocabulary changes take hold quickly but often fizzle out as a passing fad, Littlefield said. Structural shifts involving grammar typically take generations and tend to stick.
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