The phrase “it’s not just this, it’s that” has become a telltale sign of AI-generated text—and it’s now showing up everywhere in corporate America.
A recent analysis by Barron’s found that use of this particular construction has more than quadrupled in corporate communications, jumping from roughly 50 instances in 2023 to over 200 in 2025. The phrase appears in news releases, earnings reports, and government filings at a rate that suggests many companies are relying on AI tools to draft their communications.
The findings raise uncomfortable questions about authenticity in corporate messaging. When investors, journalists, and regulators parse these documents, they’re increasingly reading words that a machine helped generate—and increasingly struggling to tell the difference.
The Hallmark of AI Writing
The “it’s not just this, it’s that” construction has become one of the most recognizable markers of AI-generated prose. Large language models tend toward this type of balanced, parallel phrasing—a grammatical structure that feels complete and polished on the surface but often adds little substantive information.
Unlike human writers who vary their sentence structures based on context and emphasis, these models frequently default to predictable patterns. The phrase in question works as a rhetorical bridge, connecting two ideas in a way that sounds authoritative without actually deepening the argument.
“These patterns emerge because the models are trained to produce text that sounds confident and complete,” said one linguistics researcher who studies AI-generated language. “The problem is that corporate communications need to convey specificity and authenticity, not just grammatical polish.”
What the Data Shows
The Barron’s report documented this surge by analyzing a broad sample of publicly filed corporate documents. The methodology tracked instances of the specific phrase across quarterly earnings releases, press announcements, and SEC filings over the three-year period.
The growth wasn’t linear. The increase accelerated through 2024 and into 2025, coinciding with wider availability of enterprise AI writing tools. Many corporations now license AI platforms specifically to draft initial document templates, which human teams then review and revise.
But that review step may be getting shorter. Sources familiar with corporate communications practices say some firms have shortened their editorial review cycles, accepting AI-drafted language with minimal changes. The result: more AI fingerprints in final documents.
Why It Matters
Corporate communications serve specific functions. Earnings releases communicate financial performance to investors. Press announcements shape public perception. Government filings create legal records.
When AI generates these texts, several risks emerge. First, there’s the accuracy problem—AI models can hallucinate details or present information with false confidence. Second, there’s the transparency issue—stakeholders may not realize they’re reading AI-generated content. Third, there’s the homogenization effect—corporate voice becomes harder to distinguish when everyone uses similar tools.
Regulatory attention is growing. Some securities lawyers have begun advising clients to disclose when AI assists in drafting financial communications. The SEC has signaled interest in how companies disclose their use of AI in material communications.
Reading Between the Lines
For journalists, analysts, and others who rely on corporate documents, the proliferation of AI-generated text creates new challenges. Detecting AI writing isn’t always straightforward, but certain patterns offer clues.
Repetitive sentence structures, especially phrases that follow the “not just X, but Y” pattern, warrant scrutiny. So does language that sounds comprehensive without being specific. Human writers tend to vary their phrasing based on context; AI often defaults to similar constructions regardless of topic.
The broader context matters too. If a company’s communications suddenly shift in tone or style, it may indicate a change in how drafts are produced—even if the final product reads smoothly.
Looking Ahead
The trend shows no sign of reversing. As AI writing tools become cheaper and more integrated into enterprise software, their use in corporate communications will likely continue expanding.
What might change is how these tools are deployed and disclosed. Companies that maintain editorial rigor—reviewing AI drafts carefully, varying their language, and disclosing AI assistance where appropriate—may differentiate themselves in terms of perceived authenticity.
For now, the “it’s not just this, it’s that” phenomenon offers a window into a larger shift. Corporate America is outsourcing more of its written voice to machines, and the evidence is showing up in the phrasing.
Source: Original article