saturated · discourse · first recorded 2026-07-02 · registers: genres
“Firstly… Secondly… In addition… The key point is…” — guiding the reader through a text too short to need a map. Borrowed from academic writing, deployed everywhere.
⚠ also common in good human writing (collateral score 1.94 — the closer to 1, the more it also fires on acclaimed pre-AI prose)
“There are two things you should know. Firstly, item one. Secondly, item two.”
occurrences per 10k words, measured 2026-07-02 (run #3, 3 current + 3 vintage models)
| current AI | vintage AI (2024/25) | humans (matched) | canon (great pre-AI prose) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| pooled | 0.15 | 1.67 | 1.92 | 0.68 |
| hn | 0.19 | — | 0.26 | |
| cooking | 0.00 | — | 3.78 | |
| parenting | 0.00 | — | 3.13 | |
| 0.00 | — | — |
| run | date | AI /10k | vs humans |
|---|---|---|---|
| #2 | 2026-07-02 | 0.35 | ×0.3 vs humans |
| #3 | 2026-07-02 | 0.15 | ×0.1 vs humans |
regex: \b(firstly|secondly|thirdly|in addition|furthermore|the key (point|takeaway|insight) is|here'?s the takeaway)\b