Corporate and Diplomatic Trends in AI Writing
Adoption Patterns
According to recent research, all sectors analyzed – consumer complaints, corporate communications, and job postings – showed similar adoption patterns. This includes sharp increases in AI writing usage beginning three to four months after the launch of ChatGPT in November 2022, followed by stabilization in late 2023.
Age and Size of Organizations
Organization age emerged as the strongest predictor of AI writing usage in the job posting analysis. Companies founded after 2015 showed adoption rates up to three times higher than firms established before 1980. Small companies with fewer employees also incorporated AI more readily than larger organizations, with AI-modified text appearing in 10-15% of job postings for these companies, compared to below 5% for older organizations.
Industry Sectors
When examining corporate press releases by sector, science and technology companies integrated AI most extensively, with an adoption rate of 16.8% by late 2023. Business and financial news, and people and culture topics, showed slightly lower but still significant adoption rates of 14-15.6% and 13.6-14.3%, respectively.
International Organizations
In the international arena, Latin American and Caribbean UN country teams showed the highest adoption among international organizations, with an adoption rate of approximately 20%. African states, Asia-Pacific states, and Eastern European states demonstrated more moderate increases to 11-14% by 2024.
Implications and Limitations
Limitations
The researchers acknowledge limitations in their analysis due to a focus on English-language content. They also note that they could not reliably detect human-edited AI-generated text or text generated by newer models instructed to imitate human writing styles. As a result, the researchers suggest that their findings represent a lower bound of actual AI writing tool adoption.
Conclusions
The researchers conclude that the plateauing of AI writing adoption in 2024 might reflect either market saturation or increasingly sophisticated LLMs producing text that evades detection methods. They note that we now live in a world where distinguishing between human and AI writing becomes progressively more difficult, with implications for communications across society.
Implications for Communications
"The growing reliance on AI-generated content may introduce challenges in communication," the researchers write. "In sensitive categories, over-reliance on AI could result in messages that fail to address concerns or overall release less credible information externally. Over-reliance on AI could also introduce public mistrust in the authenticity of messages sent by firms."
FAQs
- What were the main findings of the study?
- All sectors analyzed showed similar adoption patterns, with sharp increases in AI writing usage followed by stabilization.
- Which organizations showed the highest adoption rates?
- Companies founded after 2015 and small firms with fewer employees.
- Which industries showed the highest adoption rates?
- Science and technology, business and financial news, and people and culture topics.
- What were the limitations of the study?
- Focus on English-language content and difficulty detecting human-edited AI-generated text or text generated by newer models.
