Economist explains why you can't spot AI writing's vagueness in your own drafts

SandroAmbuehl · x · 2026-10-21

Economist Sandro Ambuehl identifies the core problem of AI academic writing: AI loves vague language, producing text consistent with what you meant — but also with unintended interpretations, confusing readers about which meaning was intended.

You won't catch this while proofreading, because you only check consistency with your intent (which always passes) and, due to the curse of knowledge, are unskilled at anticipating how others might misread it.

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