Will AI shape the way we speak? The emerging sociolinguistic influence of synthetic voices (2025)

Abstract: The growing prevalence of conversational voice interfaces, powered by developments in both speech and language technologies, raises important questions about their influence on human communication. While written communication can signal identity through lexical and stylistic choices, voice-based interactions inherently amplify socioindexical elements – such as accent, intonation, and speech style – which more prominently convey social identity and group affiliation. There is evidence that even passive media such as television is likely to influence the audience’s linguistic patterns. Unlike passive media, conversational AI is interactive, creating a more immersive and reciprocal dynamic that holds a greater potential to impact how individuals speak in everyday interactions. Such heightened influence can be expected to arise from phenomena such as acoustic-prosodic entrainment and linguistic accommodation, which occur naturally during interaction and enable users to adapt their speech patterns in response to the system. While this phenomenon is still emerging, its potential societal impact could provide organisations, movements, and brands with a subtle yet powerful avenue for shaping and controlling public perception and social identity. We argue that the socioindexical influence of AI-generated speech warrants attention and should become a focus of interdisciplinary research, leveraging new and existing methodologies and technologies to better understand its implications.

## introduction this position paper proposes that the increasing scale and quality of verbal interactions with ai has the potential to influence people's habitual voice and speaking style on an unprecedented scale. recent advancements in large language models (llms) and text-to-speech (tts) technology now enable realistic, expressive, human-like conversations. moreover, breakthroughs in conversational ai systems, such as naturalistic turn-taking @xcite and interruption handling @xcite , are expected to drastically increase the scale of spoken interactions with ai. while both written and spoken language can convey aspects of identity, they do so through different channels. in writingespecially in informal settings -word choice, grammar, and style can reflect social traits such as age, gender, or cultural affiliation (e.g., rubin 1995). however, spoken interaction inherently and therefore unavoidably conveys such extralinguistic traits through the voice itself. this means that the societal impacts of increased voice-based interactions with ai are likely to differ considerably from those of text-based interactions. one particularly relevant concept in this context is socioindexicality, which refers to how features of communication signal social identity and group affiliation @xcite . in spoken language, socioindexical elements, such as accent, intonation, and speech style, play a crucial role in conveying these social cues. a wide range of identity-related aspects -including personality and wellbeing -can be signalled, and indexed, through linguistic variation, including phonetic and phonological variation (e.g. campbell-kibler 2009; @xcite @xcite @xcite . given the increasing realism and human-likeness of synthetic voices, socioindexical elements embedded in ai-generated speech may extend the role of conversational ai beyond functionality. these elements could potentially become socially influential, producing tangible effects on users' perceptions and behaviors through specific vocal traits. ## conclusion this position paper calls attention to the need for a concerted effort to address the socioindexical influence of ai-generated voices in interaction. first, it is imperative to establish the existence and extent of this emergent phenomenon. this requires a foundational understanding of how ai interaction may impact speech patterns and identity expression among users. second, the development of robust methodologies is critical for systematically studying and measuring these influences. finally, we must begin to consider the broader implications, including ethical, societal, and legal dimensions. addressing these priorities will help us prepare to understand and manage the implications of voicebased conversational ai for human speech, communication, social identity, and its potential role in driving language change.