AI is quietly reshaping the way we talk

"In a peer-reviewed study published in the Cornell University archive arXiv, FSU researchers found that AI is influencing not just how we write, but how we speak. After analyzing more than 22 million words from unscripted podcasts, the team observed a surge in terms favored by large language models (LLMs) like OpenAI's ChatGPT ( delve, boast, meticulous, and garner to name a few), while use of their synonyms remained relatively flat."

"The researchers call this the "seep-in effect" or "lexical seepage." Unlike slang spread by subcultures or mass media, this shift originates with an algorithm. In cognitive psychology, this is known as implicit learning, where recurring phrasing and word choices are unconsciously stored in memory. Likewise, language research also highlights a phenomenon known as priming, where exposure to specific words or syntax leads to an increased likelihood of using them later."

""AI may literally be putting words into our mouths, as repeated exposure leads people to internalize and reuse buzzwords they might not have chosen naturally," says Tom Juzek, a computational linguistics professor at FSU and lead author of the study. "The deeper concern is that the very same mechanism could shape not just vocabulary but also beliefs and values.""

Artificial intelligence is influencing both written and spoken language, producing increased use of words favored by large language models such as delve, boast, meticulous, and garner. Analysis of more than 22 million words from 1,326 unscripted tech and science podcast episodes compared pre-ChatGPT (2019–2021) and post-ChatGPT (2023–2025) periods, using transcripts and Whisper-generated text. The phenomenon labeled lexical seepage originates with algorithmic output and aligns with implicit learning and priming, causing repeated exposure to internalize specific phrasing. LLM-preferred vocabulary has migrated from on-screen chatbots into everyday conversation, while synonyms showed relatively flat usage.

Read at Fast Company