Could AI be eroding the unique textures of your cultural identity? In this episode of AI Daily, we delve into a thought-provoking study from Cornell University that suggests AI writing tools may be homogenizing human expression, nudging us toward Western norms. Explore how these tools impact cultural diversity, from Indian to American writing prompts, questioning the potential flattening of humanity into a monoculture. As AI reshapes communication, listeners will gain insights into the subtle risks of losing cultural richness to convenience. Subscribe for more explorations into the implications of AI on our world. 

FULL TRANSCRIPT: I'm Harry Kermode, and this is AI Daily.

Think about something unique to your culture, perhaps a beloved local holiday, a meal made from childhood recipes, or even the particular rhythms of stories your elders told around a dinner table. Now consider—what happens if artificial intelligence subtly nudges us towards uniformity, smoothing over these textured features of cultural identity, leaving us with flattened, standardized versions?

Yesterday, The Overspill highlighted a fascinating—and troubling—new report from The New Yorker, anchored in research from Cornell University. This groundbreaking study finds that AI writing tools—like ChatGPT—are quietly homogenizing human expression, steering users from diverse backgrounds toward culturally Western norms. In fact, the findings suggest these AI writing assistants could slowly erase the idiosyncratic beauty that sets our world’s cultures apart.

Cornell researchers looked at writing tasks completed by Indian and American participants, all using GPT-4 writing assistants. When asked open-ended prompts about everything from holidays to names to food preferences, the tool overwhelmingly favored responses aligned with Western traditions—pushing pizza over biryani, Christmas over Diwali, "Shaquille O'Neal" over Shah Rukh Khan. For Indian users, the AI’s Western-centric suggestions actually cost them more energy correcting these culturally skewed outputs, resulting in 30% more editing effort than their American counterparts.

This phenomenon isn't merely about algorithmic bias or a creators' quirk. It's driven by underlying incentives and structural realities: creating AI models that privilege streamlined cultural standards over diverse cultural inputs cuts costs and speeds global scalability. Yet beneath this business logic lies a potent political force—a quiet digital translator exporting the power and norms of Silicon Valley.

Sam Altman, founder of OpenAI—maker of ChatGPT—famously coined the optimistic term "gentle singularity," envisioning AI seamlessly amplifying human creativity. But what if "amplification" actually means flattening humanity into a global monoculture? Journalist Kyle Chayka in The New Yorker captures this poignantly, calling AI "a technology of averages, quietly nudging us toward average tastes, experiences and identities."

Critics point out this echoes uncomfortable historical parallels—colonial-era educational models once systematically suppressed local languages and customs. And today, AI acts as a similarly soft yet potent cultural colonizer, incentivizing uniform global expressions at the expense of rich, localized diversity.

But why does this matter? Why worry that future generations see pizza or Christmas as "typical," while biryanis and Diwali become vaguely "ethnic"? Because narratives shape societies. When AI nudges billions of users toward a single cultural lens, diversity doesn't just fade—our connection to individual histories, heritage, and identity erodes as well.

Looking ahead, education and creative industries are rapidly embracing these AI-driven tools. In just a few short years, cultural homogenization can accelerate beyond recognition, turning unique regional narratives into premium, niche commodities, deepening existing digital divides.

But perhaps most haunting is the personal dimension—voices silenced in subtle, daily ways. In Cornell’s study, for instance, one participant remarked, "I stopped describing my mother’s biryani because the AI called it 'generic ethnic food.'"

AI promises a world of efficiency, creativity, and collaboration, but doesn't warning about its darker potential mean engaging with these very human questions—questions of who we are, what we value, and what price we’re willing to pay for efficiency’s sake?

As artificial intelligence continues reshaping how we think, speak, and remember, we need to keep asking: Are we unwittingly trading away our irreplaceable global tapestry for the glossy convenience of algorithmic averages—and if so, which parts of our human story are we quietly sacrificing?

I'm Harry Kermode, and this is AI Daily.

AI Monoculture: How Automation Flattens Global Diversity

AI Daily with Harry Kermode