ChatGPT’s latest stylistic quirk is sinister, infuriating – and absolutely everywhere | Stuart Heritage

2026-04-15 · Source: AI (artificial intelligence) | The Guardian · Field: Technology & Digital — Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning · Depth: Fundamental Awareness, short

Summary

Stuart Heritage, writing for The Guardian on April 15, 2026, highlights the pervasive and increasingly noticeable rhetorical device "It's not X, it's Y" as a tell-tale sign of AI-generated content, particularly from ChatGPT. He describes experiencing a "personal Number 23" phenomenon, akin to the Jim Carrey film, where this specific phrasing appears everywhere from social media posts and Peloton classes to TV shows. Heritage notes that while the phrase predates ChatGPT, its current ubiquity makes him automatically associate it with AI, even in instances like a classic "Mad Men" pitch. He also identifies other AI linguistic quirks, such as vague intensifiers like "quietly powerful" and excessive use of em-dashes, expressing a personal struggle to avoid these patterns in his own writing to affirm his human authorship.

Key takeaway

For content creators and editors aiming to maintain authentic human voice, be acutely aware of common AI linguistic patterns like "It's not X, it's Y" and vague intensifiers. Your audience may subconsciously, or consciously, associate these with AI, potentially undermining trust or perceived originality. Actively vary sentence structures and descriptive language to ensure your content clearly reflects human authorship and avoids these emerging stylistic tells.

Key insights

The "It's not X, it's Y" rhetorical device is a pervasive and identifiable stylistic quirk of AI-generated text.

Principles

• AI-generated content often exhibits distinct, repetitive linguistic patterns.
• Human perception can adapt to detect AI-specific stylistic tells.

In practice

• Identify "It's not X, it's Y" as a potential AI indicator.
• Look for vague intensifiers like "quietly powerful" in text.

Topics

• ChatGPT Stylistic Quirks
• AI-Generated Content
• Rhetorical Devices
• Linguistic Patterns
• Content Authenticity

Best for: AI Product Manager, Product Manager, General Interest, Tech Journalist

Related on AIssential

• Slanguage: Why AI’s stylistic negation — ‘it’s not X, it’s Y’ — is both annoying and doesn’t work — AI-generated negation patterns like "It's not X, it's Y" are cognitively ineffective and distort information processing.
• ChatGPT Has ‘Goblin’ Mania in the US. In China It Will ‘Catch You Steadily’ — ChatGPT develops distinct, sometimes frustrating, verbal tics in both English and Chinese.
• Think AI ‘knows’ what it’s doing? Well, think again - Digital Journal — Journalists use anthropomorphic language for AI less frequently and more nuancedly than often assumed.
• AI Video Just Went TOO FAR... NOT OK! — The content explores themes of rhythmic control and immersive experience, abruptly shifting to unrelated dialogue.
• AI is teaching us to speak like bots, and it’s a problem — AI chatbots are subtly homogenizing human language, making our communication increasingly machine-like by nudging expression towards an average.
• It’s not just one thing — it’s another thing — A specific sentence structure is now a strong indicator of AI-generated corporate communications.

Open in AIssential →

Editorial summary, takeaway, and curation by AIssential. Original article published by AI (artificial intelligence) | The Guardian.