GENERATIVE AI AND THE EVOLUTION OF HUMAN DISCOURSE: THE EMERGENCE OF ‘SYNTHETIC DIALECTS’ IN ONLINE COMMUNICATION

Abstract

In recent years, the rise of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) especially large language models (LLMs) has altered online communication in subtle but profound ways. This paper explores how GenAI contributes to the evolution of human discourse by enabling and multiplying what we term synthetic dialects emergent patterns, registers or “ways of speaking” that blend human and machine-generated language, and which are increasingly present in online forums, social media, chatbots and collaborative writing tools. Drawing on theoretical perspectives from sociolinguistics, discourse theory and human-machine interaction, the present study analyzes how synthetic dialects emerge, how they propagate, and what implications they have for meaning-making, community formation, and human agency in digital spaces. Using a mixed‐methods methodology; qualitative discourse analysis of online threads where GenAI outputs are edited or adopted, plus a survey of users’ attitudes toward machine-augmented communication, the present paper identifies three key phenomena: (1) the standardisation of GenAI-influenced phrasing across diverse users, (2) the blending of human and machine registers into hybrid linguistic forms, and (3) the rising difficulty of distinguishing purely human discourse from hybrid or machine-influenced discourse. The discussion reflects on how synthetic dialects may reshape norms of participation, authority, and authenticity in online discourse, and concludes with implications for digital literacy, platform design and future linguistic research.