ChatGPT fuels rapid shift in spoken and written language

Daniel Caroppo’s book "Perfekt. Glatt. Wirkungslos." examines how generative AI is reshaping communication. The author argues that AI‑generated text smooths language, risks eroding nuance, and calls for renewed attentiveness, ethical guidelines, and democratic oversight in journalism, education and corporate communication.

A separate study by the Max Planck Institute for Educational Research analysed more than 700,000 hours of podcast and YouTube audio recorded before and after the 2022 release of ChatGPT. It found a marked rise—up to 50 % in just 18 months—in the frequency of words and phrasing typical of large‑language‑model output, even in spontaneous speech. The effect appears across English and, to a lesser‑documented extent, German, indicating that AI influences language beyond direct tool use. Researchers warn that this homogenisation could diminish linguistic diversity and eventually limit the quality of future AI training data.