Machine-Facing English: Defining a Hybrid Register Shaped by Human-AI Discourse

TL;DR

This paper explores how human-AI interactions foster a new linguistic register called Machine-Facing English, characterized by syntactic rigidity and pragmatic simplification, balancing machine efficiency with natural language richness.

Contribution

It introduces the concept of Machine-Facing English and analyzes its features and implications through qualitative study grounded in register theory and interactional pragmatics.

Findings

Features include redundant clarity, directive syntax, controlled vocabulary, flattened prosody, and single-intent structuring.

MFE enhances machine parseability but reduces expressive richness.

Highlights design challenges for conversational AI and multilingual communication.

Abstract

Machine-Facing English (MFE) is an emergent register shaped by the adaptation of everyday language to the expanding presence of AI interlocutors. Drawing on register theory (Halliday 1985, 2006), enregisterment (Agha 2003), audience design (Bell 1984), and interactional pragmatics (Giles & Ogay 2007), this study traces how sustained human-AI interaction normalizes syntactic rigidity, pragmatic simplification, and hyper-explicit phrasing - features that enhance machine parseability at the expense of natural fluency. Our analysis is grounded in qualitative observations from bilingual (Korean/English) voice- and text-based product testing sessions, with reflexive drafting conducted using Natural Language Declarative Prompting (NLD-P) under human curation. Thematic analysis identifies five recurrent traits - redundant clarity, directive syntax, controlled vocabulary, flattened prosody, and single-intent structuring - that improve execution accuracy but compress expressive range. MFE's evolution highlights a persistent tension between communicative efficiency and linguistic richness, raising design challenges for conversational interfaces and pedagogical considerations for multilingual users. We conclude by underscoring the need for comprehensive methodological exposition and future empirical validation.