We’ve all had an online conversation at one point in our digital life. Customer support, chat rooms, WhatsApp, dating apps… texting is literally a characteristic of modern communication. But with AI chatbots and agents merging with most of today’s applications, it’s becoming harder to distinguish between a conversation with a Chatbot and that with a human being. And I understand, AI conversations might seem easy to spot, but job applicants have often found themselves unknowingly being interviewed by AI agents—only realising it later when a real human takes over in the final hiring stages.
Truth of the matter is, AI Chatbots have got so good at their game that it isn’t always straightforward to distinguish which from whom. Customer services on our applications are mostly AI, some government portals set up AI agents to answer basic questions… so, what are some telltale signs that you are probably texting an AI? Well, read on, this is the article for you.
(1). Fast replies, that are borderline instant with a 24/7 availability
Nothing beats chatbots for fast replies—they are literally always available. While some humans do reply instantly and keep conversations lively with timely responses, they occasionally respond late, either because they need a moment to think or are offline entirely. A chatbot, however, is always online and provides instantaneous replies. If the responses are both instant and consistent, you might be interacting with an AI chatbot.
(2). Generic Repetitive Messages
Now this is most obvious in email spam messages from one ‘Jane Doe,’ who swears they saw your profile on a dating site, and would very much like to chat with you–albeit on a different platform whose link is promptly embedded in the message. Issue is, if you’ve received one message from ‘Jane Doe,’ another ‘Mary Jane’ will send the exact thing. And even when you engage with these spam messages, you will always go back to the first one directing you to the promoted platform.
Thing is, unlike humans who might phrase responses differently each time, chatbots rely on pre-programmed scripts or AI-generated responses, which can sometimes make them repeat themselves. If you notice generic responses or overly precise in-detail replies to questions, chances are you are talking to a chatbot.
But then again, AI is advancing to the point where a ChatGPT conversation can feel remarkably human—until you ask something it’s not programmed to answer. That’s when you realize you’re chatting with ChatGPT.
(3). Reliance on Keywords and Patterns
Chatbots can sometimes get stuck on specific keywords or phrases, repeating them excessively or dropping them even where they don’t fit. Even with advanced AI, some responses can feel familiar or lack genuine originality which alerts you that your chat partner is relying on pre-defined templates and rules.
(4). Overly formal, or “Robotic” Tone
While true that AI has got to the point of mimicking human conversation, it doesn’t happen at the first interactions. They pick up and learn how you interact to mimic your “energy” and that’s where you can spot the difference.
For instance, if you were to open a fresh OpenAI account and head to a fresh ChatGPT chat, you will quickly tell that you are talking to an AI. However, ChatGPT is fully capable of mimicking casual speech quite well…. but early responses may feel “unnatural” or “slightly off” before they adjust to your tone.
On that note, while AI has generally improved, many bots still have trouble with human conversational concepts like sarcasm and jokes or slang. It always feels highly structured, sometimes too formal and other times too informal as if the chat has been set to be like your long-lost pal right out of the box.
(5). Lack of Personal Experiences and Emotions
Humans are naturally social creatures. We enjoy sharing experiences and personal stories, often leading to someone mentioning their preferences. For example, ‘You do that? I, for one, like pizza with cheese… How do you even stomach that?’ This is something a bot simply can’t relate to.
While true that some AI models can now identify and respond to basic emotions, they still find it hard to understand or express complex emotional aspects like empathy. A chatbot might instead respond with “I understand”, “that sounds so interesting” and other generic emotional responses.
If you share a personal experience and get a neutral response like ‘That’s interesting’ or ‘I understand,’ without deeper engagement, total red flag. Shying away from the situation instead of continuing the conversation is a clear sign you might be texting a chatbot.
(6). Struggles with Contextual Memory
Another major giveaway of chatbots, especially the less advanced ones, is their inability to remember earlier parts of the conversation. You could mention your name in the first text, and just three minutes later, it won’t have a clue what you said.
Humans naturally remember details from earlier in a conversation. Most chatbots, however, generate responses only based on the last few messages.
(7). Rarely ask follow-up questions, like they don’t even want to know you
Humans are generally curious, and will most likely ask you something personal at one point or the other to keep the conversation flowing. But if your chat partner never asks personal questions, or keeps to script-like queries then it’s probably AI at work.
(8). Avoids Certain Topics or Reverts to Pre-Programmed Responses
Chatbots are often programmed with limitations, for example, many chatbots won’t discuss controversial topics or explicit content. It might either dodge the topic entirely or provide a vague response.
For instance, ‘What’s your opinion on politics?’—will most likely lead to a series of off-topic attempts to dodge the question or give a neutral, pre-programmed response.
That said, many modern chatbots are greatly sophisticated and can surprisingly hold human-like interactions. Artificial intelligence is getting more complex and harder to tell if you’re chatting with a bot or not—these signs, however, can help you have an idea of what to look for…who knows, maybe you’ll be able to expose an AI imposter.
