Stop Making AI Sound Human: A Style Guide for Writers
We reach for mental verbs without thinking: "know," "understand," "decide," "want." They work for people. They mislead for machines.
A new study in Technical Communication Quarterly from researchers at Iowa State University, Brigham Young University, and the University of Northern Colorado shows how often writers accidentally anthropomorphize AI-and what to do instead. The big takeaway: it happens less in news writing than you might expect, but the moments it happens still shape how readers think about AI and the humans behind it.
Why mental verbs are a problem for AI coverage
Words like "think," "know," and "want" imply beliefs, intent, or consciousness. AI has none of that. It generates outputs from patterns in data.
When you write "AI decided," readers can overestimate autonomy or reliability and overlook the real decision-makers: designers, trainers, deployers, editors, and product owners. That framing matters-especially where safety, ethics, and accountability are on the line.
What the research found
- Mental verbs paired with "AI" or "ChatGPT" were rare in a 20+ billion-word News on the Web corpus. "Needs" was most common with "AI" (661 instances). "Knows" was most common with "ChatGPT" (32 instances). See the NOW corpus.
- Many uses weren't anthropomorphic. "AI needs large amounts of data" reads like "the car needs gas." Neutral, functional, accurate.
- Anthropomorphism exists on a spectrum. "AI needs to understand the real world" nudges readers toward human-like qualities, even if that's not the intent.
This aligns with style guidance that cautions against giving AI human emotions or intent, which may also suppress usage in professional writing. AP style guidance on AI.
Practical rules for your drafts
- Swap mental verbs for what the system actually does:
- Instead of "AI thinks," write "the model estimates" or "the system infers from training data."
- Instead of "ChatGPT knows," write "ChatGPT generated a response based on patterns in its training data."
- Instead of "the tool decided," write "the team configured thresholds that triggered X."
- Attribute agency to humans. Replace "AI decided to roll out a feature" with "the company rolled out a feature powered by AI."
- Be specific about mechanics. Use verbs like generate, classify, rank, retrieve, summarize, predict, transcribe, or translate.
- Guard against implied intent. If you catch "understand," "believe," "want," "remember," or "feel," interrogate the sentence. Is there a precise, non-human verb?
- Use probability and limits. "The model predicted with X% confidence" beats "the AI knew."
- Reserve human qualities for humans. Ethics, fairness, and accountability belong to people and institutions, not models.
Fast edit checklist
- Search these verbs: think, know, understand, decide, want, believe, remember, learn, feel.
- For each hit, ask: What did the system actually do? Generate? Rank? Predict? Retrieve?
- Reassign responsibility where needed: Who designed, trained, deployed, prompted, or approved?
- Check passive voice. If it hides the human, rewrite: "AI was implemented" → "The team implemented AI to…"
Before-and-after examples
- "AI decided which applicants to advance." → "Recruiters used an AI model that scored applicants; the team advanced those above a set threshold."
- "ChatGPT knows the latest policy." → "ChatGPT produced an answer based on its training data and your prompt; verify current policy."
- "The system wants more data." → "The system requires more training data to improve accuracy."
Context over counts
The study's key point: verb counts alone don't tell the whole story. Context flips meaning. "Needs" can be a neutral requirement ("AI needs labeled data") or a human-like expectation ("AI needs to understand fairness").
As you write, map verbs to capabilities, not consciousness. Keep readers focused on how the tech works and who is accountable for it.
If you write with AI
Use AI as a drafting tool, then do a human pass for accuracy, sourcing, and tone. Keep a short list of replacement verbs near your desk, and run a final search for mental verbs before filing.
Want vetted tools that actually help with briefs, outlines, and headlines? Explore our picks for AI tools for copywriting.
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