There’s a lot of things we can praise AI on, but the size of its vocabulary isn’t one of them.
If you use generative AI tools only occasionally, then you probably won’t have noticed the limitations in these so-called large language models.
But if you’ve welcomed AI into your personal and professional life with open arms, the following phrases will be all too familiar.
The number of overused AI phrases easily wade into the 100s, but we’ve shortlisted the 10 most common.
1. “In the realm of”
Introducing a topic with the classic “in the world of” just isn’t formal enough for AI, so the word ‘realm’ takes its place.
This is likely a reflection of how most people write in the real world—open a thesaurus and select the fanciest word—and AI has picked up on this pattern of behavior.
2. “Delve into”
With the amount of people asking for AI-generated texts which are comprehensive in scope (think articles, guides, research papers), it makes sense that “delve into” is a really common AI phrase.
That and the fact it’s a pervasive introductory phrase in academia as well, and some chatbots like ChatGPT received extensive training on academic writing.
3. “In today’s digital age”
We’ve got a theme going on here. Yet another popular AI phrase that often comprises the very first sentence of an AI-generated response.
Lacking nuance, you can always count on AI to refer to the current era, characterized by the widespread use of digital technology, as the digital age.
4. “A testament to”
This phrase has wide usage in formal communication in the real world, so you can’t blame AI, which adopts a formal tone by default, to use it with the same frequency.
It’s a useful phrase to reach for when you want to pad out your writing, and nobody knows that better than AI. The more you push AI for a higher word count, the likelier it weaves in “a testament to”.
5. “In conclusion”
Interestingly, common AI phrases are most prevalent in conclusions and introductions, though the latter is the most popular location by quite a margin.
Again, while it provides a useful transition to the closing section, use of “in conclusion” or “in summary” are clear cases of copycat behavior based on how the majority of real people write.
6. “A treasure trove of”
AI loves itself a metaphor. If there’s a large amount of something valuable or desirable, AI will describe it as being a treasure trove without fail.
Worse still, the addiction to this phrase is so strong that it uses it in both formal and informal contexts, when really it’s only suitable for informal writing.
7. “In this article”
AI-written articles probably outnumber human-written content nowadays and this has helped make “in this article” a signature AI phrase.
This one is something of an anomaly, in that nobody in the real world puts “in this article” in the introduction of their articles, which gets you wondering where the decision to self-reference came from.
8. “A tapestry of”
Definitely a contender as the AI phrase with the highest usage of them all. Whenever AI needs to thread together different elements, it does so by saying “a tapestry of”.
No one is against adding life and color to your writing through the use of metaphors, but there’s a time and place for them, whereas AI just spits them out indiscriminately.
9. “In the annals of”
Many millions of people use AI chatbots for a history lesson, giving AI the opportunity to utter another one of its favorite introductory phrases: “In the annals of”.
On one hand, this phrase does do a good job of building up anticipation, but the effect is weakened by its own ubiquity.
10. “Let’s explore”
AI language models like ChatGPT are primarily designed to output information, and you can sense its enthusiasm for producing long-form informational texts in some of its choice of phrases.
For example, “let’s explore” is a phrase that makes you think you’re about to embark on an adventure. AI can’t contain its excitement so much so that it wants to explore this, explore that—explore everything!
Final thoughts
Because all these AI-generative tools and chatbots are trained on the patterns of human writing, it tends to do and say what most humans do and say.
This may well lead to efficiencies in learning, information gathering, and decision-making, but it comes at the cost of originality and creativity, which is why we end up with this unwanted phenomenon of commonly used AI phrases.