The Guardian · US news · Original story
AI learns language from skewed sources. That could change how we humans speak – and think | Bruce Schneier
Large language models aren’t trained on real-life conversations. As we encounter their language, it could affect our own
Because of the way they are trained, large language models capture only a slice of human language. They’re trained on the written word, from textbooks to social media posts, and our speech as captured in movies and on television. These models have minimal access to the unscripted conversations we have face to face or voice to voice. This is the vast majority of speech, and a vital component of human culture.
There’s a risk to this. The increased use of large language models means we humans will encounter much more AI-generated text. We humans, in turn, will begin to adopt the linguistic patterns and behaviors of these models. This will affect not just how we communicate with one another, but also how we think about ourselves and what goes on around us. Our sense of the world may become distorted in ways we have barely begun to comprehend.
Continue reading...
Ada Palmer and Bruce Schneier · Tue, Apr 14, 2026, 5:00 AM
US news | The Guardian
Large language models aren’t trained on real-life conversations. As we encounter their language, it could affect our own
Because of the way they are trained, large language models capture only a slice of human language. They’re trained on the written word, from textbooks to social media posts, and our speech as captured in movies and on television. These models have minimal access to the unscripted conversations we have face to face or voice to voice. This is the vast majority of speech, and a vital component of human culture.
There’s a risk to this. The increased use of large language models means we humans will encounter much more AI-generated text. We humans, in turn, will begin to adopt the linguistic patterns and behaviors of these models. This will affect not just how we communicate with one another, but also how we think about ourselves and what goes on around us. Our sense of the world may become distorted in ways we have barely begun to comprehend.
Continue reading...This page shows an excerpt; reporting belongs to the original publisher. Some images or embeds may be omitted compared with the live article.
← More stories · Front page
