Likewise, media coverage of human-AI interaction whether paranoid or starry-eyed tends to emphasise its newness.
In one sense, it is undeniably new.
Is that what I meant to say?
Would it have occurred to me if the tool hadnt suggested it?
Am I part robot?
These large language models have been trained on massive amounts of natural human language.
Does this make the robots part human?
No, youre not a robot, but your language is not so different from an AI chatbots.
Ihor Reshetniak/iStock via Getty Images
AIchatbots are new, but public debates over language change are not.
As alinguistic anthropologist, I find human reactions to ChatGPT the most interesting thing about it.
40% off TNW Conference!
Humans are both highly original and unoriginal when it comes to language.
Chatbots reflect this, revealing tendencies and patterns that are already present in interactions with other humans.
Creators or mimics?
Theres a problem with that argument, though.
Even though humans are endlessly capable of generating new strings of language, people usually dont.
Pop songs and political speeches are especially vivid illustrations of a more general phenomenon.
When anyone speaks or writes, how much is newly generated a la Chomsky?
How much is recycled a la Bakhtin?
Are we part robot?
Are the robots part human?
People like Chomsky who say that chatbots are unlike human speakers are right.
