The writing changes

A new academic year is taking off. Many students are looking for dissertation topics, ask for advice, or want to discuss their first ideas. As every October, my inbox fills up.

This year, the emails I receive are different from previous years. They are longer. Smoother. The ideas are fleshed out in more detail, with methods and data described more carefully. Fewer typos. And more of the same: the emails look much more like each other than they used to.

I might suffer from AI paranoia, seeing it seeping through everywhere. But for me, 2026 is the year AI really made it into students’ emails.