Clichés and Artificial Intelligence

Abstract This final chapter investigates the increasingly significant relationship between clichés and artificial intelligence (AI). It draws historical parallels between past innovations in industrial printing and present-day language models, positioning AI as the latest frontier in ongoing cultural and intellectual debates regarding originality, creativity, and mechanical reproduction. AI-generated language inherently relies on clichés, highlighting their paradoxical necessity for creating convincingly human-like communication. Through examination of historical and contemporary language models, chatbots, and AI-driven interactions, the authors illustrate how clichés serve as essential markers distinguishing authentic human communication from algorithmically generated content—acting as “shibboleths” to confirm humanity. This chapter critically analyze prevailing cultural anxieties surrounding AI’s perceived overreliance on clichés, countering narratives that portray AI-generated speech as inherently meaningless or lacking understanding. Instead, it proposes interpreting AI interactions as unique “cliché events,” in which the concepts of meaning and understanding can be re-examined. This reframing positions clichés not as linguistic flaws but as fundamental components of human and artificial communication alike, emphasizing their indispensability in comprehending contemporary linguistic, technological, and cultural shifts. Ultimately, this chapter articulates how AI illuminates humanity’s enduring dependence on familiar linguistic forms and shared cultural patterns.