--- title: "People Are Loading Their Writing With Typos to Prove They’re Not AI" description: "Typos used to be frowned upon. Now, people are treating them as signs that a piece of digital content is worth reading." date: "2026-05-25" modified: "2026-05-25" authors: - name: "Krystle Vermes" job_title: "Contributor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/kvermes" url: "https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/typos-ai-humans-authentic" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" - "Ethics" --- # People Are Loading Their Writing With Typos to Prove They’re Not AI ![Hands typing on a laptop keyboard with a blue-toned lighting effect. The focus is on the fingers pressing the keys, with a blurred background and a notebook partially visible.]() *Getty / Futurism* Typos used to be glaring eyesores. In the age of AI, they've become a sight for sore eyes. In fact, [Michael Waters argue**s** in *The Atlantic*]() that small, forgivable typos are now serving as signs that something was actually written by a human, and hence is worth reading. In a world where everyone expects a ChatGPT'd response, typos have mutated into a mark of authenticity. A misspelled word or two is indicative of the human element. "On a base level, many of us are willing to invest time in reading a long email if we sense that someone actually wrote it, line by line," Waters wrote*.* It's a quirky face on a galling cultural phenomenon. As [Angela Haupt unpacked in a piece in *TIME*]() earlier this year*,* there is no quick and easy way for people to determine the authenticity of what they're reading anymore. If you can't discern who you're really talking to — human or AI — you're less likely to feel confident and grounded in the discussion. "There’s a real hunger right now for writing that feels unmistakably human, with all the quirks, oddly specific details, and little flashes of personality that AI can’t quite mimic," psychologist Stephanie Steele-Wren told *TIME*. "Humans are naturally chaotic and idiosyncratic. AI is not." As fondly as we now regard typos, not everyone is craving the human element. In some instances, AI has *replaced* that in users' lives, whether it be in the form of [mental health support]() or an [intimate partner](). This suggests that, while there may be a demand for human connection, there's still a niche for fabricated connections offered by AI. But at the very least, everyone is crying out for a choice in the matter. **More on AI and typos:** *[AI Does Something Subtly Bizarre If You Make Typos While Talking to It]()*