Exploring the Structure of AI-Induced Language Change in Scientific English

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.32473/flairs.38.1.138958

Keywords:

Computational Linguistics, Artificial Intelligence, Scientific English, Language Change, Lexical Semantics

Abstract

Scientific English has undergone rapid and unprecedented changes in recent years, with words such as "delve," "intricate," and "crucial" showing significant spikes in frequency since around 2022. These changes are widely attributed to the growing influence of Large Language Models like ChatGPT in the discourse surrounding bias and misalignment. However, apart from changes in frequency, the exact structure of these linguistic shifts has remained unclear. The present study addresses this and investigates whether these changes involve the replacement of synonyms by suddenly 'spiking words,' for example, "crucial" replacing "essential" and "key," or whether they reflect broader semantic and pragmatic qualifications. To further investigate structural changes, we include part of speech tagging in our analysis to quantify linguistic shifts over grammatical categories and differentiate between word forms, like "potential" as a noun vs. as an adjective. We systematically analyze synonym groups for widely discussed 'spiking words' based on frequency trends in scientific abstracts from PubMed. We find that entire semantic clusters often shift together, with most or all words in a group increasing in usage. This pattern suggests that changes induced by Large Language Models are primarily semantic and pragmatic rather than purely lexical. Notably, the adjective "important" shows a significant decline, which prompted us to systematically analyze decreasing lexical items. Our analysis of collapsing words reveals a more complex picture, which is consistent with organic language change and contrasts with the patterns of the abrupt spikes. These insights into the structure of language change contribute to our understanding of how language technology continues to shape human language.

Author Biographies

Riley Galpin, Florida State University

Riley Galpin is a student at Florida State University studying computer science, and mathematics with an interest in artificial intelligence and language.

Bryce Anderson, Florida State University

Bryce Anderson is a student at Florida State University studying computer science with an interest in language.

Tom S Juzek, Florida State University

Tom Juzek is a computational linguist at Florida State University with an interest in technology and language.

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Published

14-05-2025

How to Cite

Galpin, R., Anderson, B., & Juzek, T. S. (2025). Exploring the Structure of AI-Induced Language Change in Scientific English. The International FLAIRS Conference Proceedings, 38(1). https://doi.org/10.32473/flairs.38.1.138958

Issue

Section

Special Track: Explainable, Fair, and Trustworthy AI