arXiv AI

Beyond "AI Language": The case for the idiolectal nature of LLM output

arXiv:2608. 06589v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: While large language model outputs are frequently analysed as a collective super variety termed "AI language," this chapter argues that this perspective coexists with distinct, model-specific linguistic signatures akin to human idiolects.

arXiv Computation and Language
Aug 31

AI Writers Have a Consistent Stylometric Footprint, but AI Editors Do Not

The study demonstrates that text produced by large language models (LLMs) leaves a distinct stylometric footprint—primarily increased entropy and lexical diversity—across multiple models and domains. In contrast, AI editing of human text does not replicate this footprint; edited texts show only modest lexical diversity gains and reduced entropy, with lexical density emerging as the key distinguishing feature. Consequently, stylometric analysis can differentiate AI-generated from AI-edited content, but is less effective at distinguishing either from purely human writing.

By Zhengyang Shan, Yukyung Lee, Sophie Hao
arXiv AI
Aug 28

How LLMs Distort Our Written Language

Large language models (LLMs) are widely used to assist writing, but this study shows they alter both tone and meaning of human text. A user study found that heavy LLM use increased neutral essays by nearly 70% and made writers feel less creative and less in their voice. Even when prompted to make only grammar edits, LLMs changed the semantic content of essays and produced AI-generated scientific reviews that were less focused on clarity and significance and scored higher on average.

By Marwa Abdulhai, Isadora White, Yanming Wan, Ibrahim Qureshi, Joel Z. Leibo, Max Kleiman-Weiner, Natasha Jaques
arXiv Computation and Language
Sep 1

How Human-Like Are Large Language Models? A Register-Aware Linguistic Evaluation Framework

The paper introduces a register-aware framework to evaluate how human-like large language models (LLMs) are, focusing on linguistic feature distributions rather than factual correctness. It uses Maximum Mean Discrepancy (MMD) and 67 Biber lexico‑grammatical features to compare LLM‑generated texts with human reference corpora across different registers. Experiments on seven instruction‑tuned, open‑source models across five English datasets show that all LLMs deviate from human baselines, with closeness to human language varying by register and not by model size.

By Bj\"orn Nieth, Marianna Gracheva, Michaela Mahlberg, Bjoern Eskofier, Emmanuelle Salin
arXiv Computation and Language
Sep 11

CHRONOBERG: Capturing Language Evolution and Temporal Awareness in Foundation Models

CHRONOBERG is a temporally structured corpus of English book texts covering 250 years, curated from Project Gutenberg and enriched with temporal annotations. It enables quantification of lexical semantic change via time‑sensitive Valence‑Arousal‑Dominance analysis and the creation of historically calibrated affective lexicons. Experiments show that language models trained sequentially on CHRONOBERG struggle to encode diachronic shifts, highlighting the need for temporally aware training and evaluation pipelines.

By Niharika Hegde, Subarnaduti Paul, Lars Joel-Frey, Manuel Brack, Kristian Kersting, Martin Mundt, Patrick Schramowski
arXiv Computation and Language
Aug 27

Unveiling Spectral Mechanisms in Training-Free LLM Text Detection

The paper investigates training‑free detection of machine‑generated text using spectral analysis. It shows that spectral energy correlates with variance in token probability trajectories and that human writing produces characteristic fluctuations, termed "generative vitality." The authors find that spectral signals are strongest for long, continuous, constrained generations, while shorter or mixed texts require additional confidence‑based metrics.

By Haitong Luo, Xuying Meng, Weiyao Zhang, Wenji Zou, Shengfeng Lou, Xuefeng Jiang, Chungang Lin, Yujun Zhang