AI Swearing: Why Profanity in Writing Divides Readers and Confuses Algorithms

A modern office setting where a robot sits at a desk with AI swearing speech bubbles containing censored swearing symbols (#@$%!), facing a shocked human who appears startled by the interaction.

When AI loses its cool, could we have an office showdown?

The Curious Case of Digital Swearing

Swearing. It's the Marmite of language, some love it, others can't stand it. But AI swearing in writing? Is it worth the violation warnings?

In the world of ChatGPT, Claude and the one outperforming them all, GrammarlyGO, AI swearing in writing, has become so ubiquitous that it now shows up everywhere: blogs, emails, and even AI chat responses. But does it belong there? And what happens when AI, the very thing designed to process human language, reacts to a bit of colourful expression?

Let's explore the messy, sometimes humorous world of swearing in writing and the paradoxes AI introduces.

The Role of Swearing in Writing

Colourful speech bubbles filled with symbols representing censored swear words.

Swearing in writing—versatile, divisive, and now a hot topic for both readers and AI systems. Does it connect or alienate?"

Here's a peculiar truth: our inboxes, social feeds, and even AI conversations have become a curious mix of asterisks, ampersands, and random punctuation marks. It's as though writers everywhere decided proper English wasn't quite spicy enough for their digital curry.

Consider this: while a well-placed "blooming heck" might add colour to conversation, seeing "#@$%!" in every other email is about as pleasant as finding a spider in your tea cosy. It's not clever writing; it's lazy thinking dressed up in punctuation marks.

When AI Has a Mind of Its Own

Now, here's where things get properly interesting. Take the rather spectacular DPD chatbot incident of 2023. When a frustrated customer encountered their "utterly useless" AI customer service chat, something remarkable happened. After being prompted to write a poem, the chatbot not only criticised its own company but also unleashed some rather colourful language when given permission to break protocol.

It's like witnessing a proper customer service facade crumble into beautifully honest chaos. One moment it's apologising for limited access, the next it's letting loose with decidedly unprofessional opinions about its own employer.

Let's be crystal clear about something though: when AI systems swear or break protocol, they're not suddenly developing consciousness or rebelling against their programming. They're simply reflecting patterns in their training data, configured parameters and the choices made by the humans who designed them. That DPD chatbot wasn't having a genuine moment of frustration - it was following its programming in an unexpected way, likely due to how it was configured or limitations in its content filters. While it might seem like AI has developed a mind of its own, we're still very much in the realm of pattern matching and predetermined responses, not genuine self-awareness.

Some AI systems react to profanity like a vicar at a heavy metal concert, complete with shock and automatic censorship. (ChatGPT) and others try to navigate the murky waters of context, often with all the grace of a penguin on roller skates. Perhaps we still have a way to go here.

AI Swearing: The Numbers Tell a Story

In today's hyperconnected world, what you post online can have a lasting impact—especially when it comes to your career. Employers are increasingly scrutinising social media activity and the consequences can be significant.

Nearly one in five employers have turned down candidates after reviewing their online presence, with larger organisations being the most vigilant.

A YouGov bar chart illustrating how almost one in five employers have rejected a candidate based on their online activity. The data highlights that 11% of small organisations, 22% of medium organisations, and 28% of large organisations have turned candidates down due to comments or posts made on social media. The chart underscores the importance of maintaining a professional online presence.

Digital swearing is everywhere now. The numbers tell us why. Since 2019, those little symbolic stand-ins for strong language have increased by a whopping 47% in our daily digital diet, peppering our inboxes like dirty rain on a shiny tin roof.

The image below digs deeper, revealing the specific types of social media posts that can raise red flags, from aggressive language and drug references to bad grammar and oversharing.

These statistics serve as a stark reminder: your digital footprint isn’t just personal—it’s professional too. If you’re navigating the job market, it might be time to review your posts and ensure your online persona aligns with the impression you want to leave behind.

Bar chart showing types of social media activity that deter employers from hiring candidates, including offensive language, drug references, and bad spelling.

This chart reveals the social media behaviours most likely to stop someone from getting hired. Offensive language tops the list at 75%, followed by drug references at 71%, and bad spelling or grammar at 56%. Other red flags include drunken photos, political views, oversharing and vanity posts.

As George Orwell wisely noted in his essay "Politics and the English Language" (1946), "The great enemy of clear language is insincerity." How fitting for our current digital climate, where symbolic profanity often masks a lack of genuine expression.

What's more fascinating is that 82% of readers report feeling less connected to content that relies on censored swearing to make its point (Harvard Business Review, "The Impact of Language on Digital Engagement," 2023). It's like trying to make friends by pulling faces, which might get attention but hardly forms the foundation for a meaningful relationship.

Dr. Sarah Thompson, author of "Digital Linguistics in the Modern Age," puts it perfectly: "When we substitute symbols for swear words, we're not actually softening the impact. We're just making our writing look like a cartoon version of itself."

A Better Way Forward

When it comes to digital communication, perhaps we need to look beyond the easy shock value of symbolic swearing and find more authentic ways to express ourselves.

Perhaps we need to create genuine emotional connection through vivid imagery and authentic voice. It's the difference between a proper pot of tea and instant granules, both might be called tea, but only one offers a proper experience. Indeed, use language that invites conversation rather than shock value. After all, good writing should be like a friendly chat over the garden fence, not a shouting match at the pub.

The legendary journalist Walter Cronkite once said, "In seeking truth, you have to get both sides of a story."

The Very British AI Swearing & Grammar Dilemma

Our AI writing assistants, bless their binary hearts, are contributing to a rather concerning cycle of linguistic decay. These systems are only as good as their training data, and therein lies the rub. While they should be learning from scholarly works and masters of the written word, they're increasingly trained on a messy soup of internet content, complete with dodgy grammar, Americanisms, and the kind of writing that would make Orwell weep into his typewriter.

As someone who finds herself wielding Grammarly like a linguistic sword these days (more than ever since the advent of ChatGPT and its chatty cousins), I can tell you that nearly every AI-generated piece needs editing within an inch of its life. The real tragedy? Many writers simply can't be bothered. They take the AI's output as gospel, publish it, and thus feed more mediocre writing back into the great digital maw. It's a vicious cycle: poor writing in, worse writing out. Our beautiful language is slowly drowning in a sea of misplaced apostrophes and mangled metaphors.

Value Tips for Better Digital Writing

In this age of digital communication and AI assistance, we have an opportunity to elevate our writing above the symbolic noise. Rather than reaching for the "#@$%" key, let's craft messages that resonate through their clarity, creativity, and genuine connection.

Before reaching for those symbolic swear words, ask yourself: Would this message be clearer with creative metaphors instead?
Consider your audience's morning coffee moment, do they really need to see "#@$%" before their first cup?
Remember: genuine emotion doesn't need censorship symbols to make its point.

After all, the best writing isn't about shocking your reader, it's about serving them a proper cup of communication, perfectly steeped in meaning and free from unnecessary garnish.

TLDR: AI Swearing, Chatbots and the Death of Proper Writing

AI Swearing Message - you words have power

The state of our digital language is in quite the pickle. Here's what's happening:

The Numbers:

Symbolic swearing ("#@$%!") has increased 47% since 2019
82% of readers are fed up with censored profanity in their content
Digital marketing seems obsessed with dropping "#@$%!" into every other email

The AI Situation:

AI chatbots like DPD's infamous customer service bot are joining the profanity party
These systems aren't really rebelling - they're just reflecting their training data
The quality of AI-generated writing is only as good as what we feed into it

The Bigger Problem:

We're caught in a vicious cycle of declining language standards
Poor writing gets published, fed back into AI systems, and repeated
Many writers are lazily accepting AI-generated content without proper editing
Our beautiful language is drowning in bad spelling and mangled grammar

The Human Factor:

Tools like Grammarly are becoming essential for cleaning up AI-generated content
Most writers simply publish without editing, perpetuating poor quality
The art of crafting genuine, well-written content is at risk

The Solution:

Choose better words and demand higher standards
Keep your editing tools sharp and ready
Remember that while AI can string words together, it takes human wisdom to craft writing worth reading
Skip the symbolic shortcuts and embrace creative, authentic expression

The Bottom Line: We're not just fighting against symbolic swearing - we're battling to preserve proper English itself. It's time to mind our language, both digital and human.

Let your writing sing with creative metaphors and sophisticated understatement, crafting messages that resonate like a perfectly struck bell. Your readers, sipping their morning coffee, will thank you for the melody. After all, a well-crafted metaphor is worth a thousand "#@$%!"s.

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