Every Word My Employee Writes Reeks of A.I.

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Letters may be edited.A Worker Who Uses A.I.Too Much …Dear Work Friend,I’m a supervisor at a small nonprofit.

I regularly receive communications from a subordinate that are clearly written by artificial intelligence.Basically, anything longer than a sentence — Teams message, email — has the hallmarks of A.I.

writing.This person is a capable employee and I value his work.

I’m also aware that English is not his first language, though he is quite competent in English.But being sent A.I.

messages, particularly about occasionally sensitive matters, leaves me feeling odd.My question is if I should raise this with the employee and encourage him to find a different way to communicate with me — in person (which is not always possible) or by drafting his own messages.— AnonymousFor nonnative speakers obligated by their jobs to communicate in second or third languages, A.I.has been a godsend: A program that can check, correct and polish your email prose instantaneously so that you never feel embarrassed or underprepared.

But as you note, the people receiving those emails (or Slacks, or whatever) can find them unnerving.It can be hard to tell where your correspondent’s ideas end and the A.I.’s begin.

And at some point, the homogenizing, inescapable voice of today’s large language models can be so slick as to feel less professional than a stilted and ungrammatical — but unquestionably human and unique — message might.Still, I’m torn about whether or not you should raise this with your employee directly.Perhaps he’s honest and amenable to criticism.

But in my experience, many people who use A.I.for functions like checking grammar or lightly polishing prose don’t see what they’re doing as “using A.I.,” and will deny that their writing is “A.I.

assisted” even when it clearly...