AP Stylebook bans anthropomorphizing AI; programmers mock decades of 'thinking kernels'

zetalyrae · x · 2026-09-25

AP Stylebook now instructs writers that AI systems do not think, feel, want or understand, and to avoid anthropomorphic language—describe instead what a system does, how well it performs, who built it and who is affected. Commenters point out the irony: programmers have long said schedulers 'want' and compilers 'think' as metaphor, but revolt once entities appear that arguably do these things less metaphorically.

Related event: AP Stylebook Bans Anthropomorphizing AI, Drawing Widespread Backlash(13 posts)→

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