AI is making journalistic language increasingly repetitive and predictable – and that’s a problem for all of us

What happens to language when an increasing amount of text published in the press, online and on social media is written by machines? This question is not only important for the profession of journalism, it also has implications for the richness of the language we all use to understand, describe and discuss reality itself.

Historically, the press has been a space in which public language grows and becomes richer. Of course, it is not the only driver of linguistic change, but it is one of the areas in which new or emerging words, phrases, and ways of describing facts begin to circulate in society.

Studies of journalistic language and neologisms clearly show that newspapers are platforms for the creation and dissemination of new vocabulary, particularly when it comes to reporting on events, technology and social changes for a wide audience.

However, if a significant portion of journalistic writing is delegated to generative AI, this role will diminish. Great language…