The Tell
The words the machine can't help using — and how they flooded science after ChatGPT.
14×
That's how much more often "delve" now appears in scientific abstracts than before ChatGPT (14.0 → 191.8 per 100,000, 2024). It's the machine's tell.
Machine-speak index in PubMed abstracts
The tells
- showcasing 11.9 → 225.5 18.9×
- delve 14.0 → 191.8 13.7×
- commendable 5.0 → 47.3 9.4×
- intricate 124.0 → 976.1 7.9×
- realm 48.3 → 226.3 4.7×
- pivotal 540.1 → 1,722.3 3.2×
- meticulous 56.4 → 170.2 3×
- garner 9.9 → 10.9 1.1×
Hits per 100,000 abstracts; baseline 2018–2022.