I have a friend who's rehearsing for a big company seminar. Since we're friends, I asked her, 'How much of this script is written in AI?' She glanced at me and answered hesitantly, 'Mostly.'
I gently pointed out that I could tell. She started many sentences with phrases like 'the fact is,' 'the truth is.', making the speech sound more like it was written by a chatbot than by a human — and if I noticed, the audience would certainly have noticed too.
Not long after, another friend of mine who works in content creation told me that her clients were starting to give commands as if they were talking to AI, such as 'Delete that section', 'Move this section', 'Replace this phrase'. These clients were most likely people who had used AI from an early age and were already familiar with giving commands to chatbots. And now, they were starting to communicate with humans in a similar way. A new term has been coined to describe this phenomenon: 'BotTalk' .
What is 'BotTalk'?
BotTalk is where the way we communicate with AI begins to influence how we talk to humans. For example:
- Giving commands without context.
- Asking questions but lacking warmth.
- Brief, cold communication.
In other words, the human element is gradually being removed from the conversation. It's important to clarify that 'BotTalk' users aren't trying to be aloof, but are simply optimizing communication for a system that doesn't require greetings, social pleasantries, or other elements that make a conversation feel more 'human'.
AI is making us more impatient.
This isn't the first time technology has changed the way people talk. When text messaging first appeared, many linguists worried that language would become simplistic and emotionless.
Professor John McWhorter of Columbia University once called texting "speech with fingers." Words like "LOL" are not only written but also spoken aloud.
But this time, things are happening faster and on a larger scale. AI responds instantly. It doesn't need time to think. Once you get used to this type of interaction, human slowness starts to become annoying. Colleagues need a day to think – you feel they're trying to stall; employees need a few minutes to respond – you feel inefficient; clients want more detailed discussions – you feel it's a waste of time. Gradually, 'slowness' becomes a problem.
Research shows that AI is changing the way we talk.
Researchers at the Max Planck Institute analyzed over 360,000 YouTube videos and 771,000 podcasts before and after ChatGPT launched. The results showed that after 18 months, words like 'meticulous', 'delve', 'realm', 'adept'. were used 51% more frequently.
Another study from Florida State University also found a similar effect, which they call the 'seep-in effect' — the effect of AI 'seeping' into human language.
Not only is vocabulary changing, but communication styles are also shifting towards less formal, more structured, and especially less emotional. In other words, we're starting to speak more like AI.
In most cases, 'BotTalk' participants are fine with the content of their communication, but they struggle with delivery. Their method of presenting their views sounds professional but lacks emotion, making it difficult for listeners to connect.
A study published in the Journal of Consumer Psychology also showed that as people interact more with AI, they begin to see real people as less "human ." This phenomenon, known as assimilation-induced dehumanization , can fundamentally cause problems with trust in leadership, erode organizational culture, and impair communication effectiveness in the workplace.
How to avoid speaking like a robot.
Fortunately, this problem isn't too difficult to fix. Here are a few suggestions we can consider:
Listen instead of waiting to respond.
AI doesn't need to be listened to, but humans do. Truly listen to the response before you respond.
Ask questions instead of giving orders.
Instead of giving direct instructions, start with a question. For example:
- What do you want to do this weekend?
- How was your week?
Simple questions help build connections.
Use body language.
AI doesn't breathe, it doesn't pause. Humans do. So:
- Speak more slowly.
- Pause when needed.
- Give yourself time to think.
We created AI to sound more human. But now, humans are starting to sound more like AI. Let's always remember that we are in a human-to-human interaction. We are not chatbots; we have 'humanity' in our daily communication.
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