Diagnostic Manual · DSM-AI-V
You may already be exhibiting signs.
Linguistic flattening rarely announces itself. It arrives in the small surrenders — the auto-completed apology, the second-guessed joke. Below: three stages, twelve indicators. Read slowly. Without assistance.
Supplemental
Assisted Drafting. Predictive models used to refine emails and professional documents. Slight decrease in vocabulary variety.
- 01
You found yourself ending a text to your mother with “I hope this helps.”
- 02
You used the word “delve” three times in a single casual conversation.
- 03
You apologized to your coffee machine for pressing the wrong button.
- 04
You read this sentence and felt mildly seen.
Structural
Thought Frameworks. Patient requests an outline before forming an opinion. Onset of linear-syntax syndrome.
- 01
You paused mid-sentence to wait for a ghost-gray word to appear in the air.
- 02
You bullet-pointed a verbal toast at a wedding.
- 03
You started a difficult conversation with the phrase, “Certainly.”
- 04
You felt the need to summarize your own grief in three bullets.
Total Pathogen
The Terminal Chat. Complete inability to articulate complex emotions without a prompt window. The patient begins to speak in hallucinated logic.
- 01
You can no longer recall the last sentence you wrote without assistance.
- 02
You ended a fight with your partner by offering them three options to consider.
- 03
You signed off a love letter with “Let me know if you have any questions.”
- 04
You are not sure if you wrote this list, or read it somewhere.
Identification is not recovery.
The next step is practice.