00:00

Up next

    Short WaveCan you spot AI-written stories? Listen and find out
    12 minEpisode 1533

    Can you spot AI-written stories? Listen and find out

    Listened

    In progress

    Can you tell the difference between a human-written short story and an AI-generated one? Most people can’t. In a series of experiments led by a team at Villanova University, researchers found two things: First, most people said they preferred human written stories, but couldn’t tell the difference between AI and human writing; and second, when presented with two similar short stories, one written by a human and one generated by AI, readers tended to prefer the AI-generated piece – especially if…

    We excerpted two of the short stories on our website for you to guess which is AI-generated and which is human-generated.

    Read more
    Listen now12 min

    © NPRLength 12 min12 August 2026Episode 1533ScienceFactsEducationalUSAEpisodic

    Introducing Short Wave

    Introducing Short Wave

    This is an episodic podcast, so you can listen to it in any order, but episode one is a great place to start.

    Listen to episode one here
    11+ScienceFactsEducationalUSAEpisodic12 August 2026© NPR

    Can you tell the difference between a human-written short story and an AI-generated one? Most people can’t. In a series of experiments led by a team at Villanova University, researchers found two things: First, most people said they preferred human written stories, but couldn’t tell the difference between AI and human writing; and second, when presented with two similar short stories, one written by a human and one generated by AI, readers tended to prefer the AI-generated piece – especially if they had been told the AI story was written by a human.

    We excerpted two of the short stories on our website for you to guess which is AI-generated and which is human-generated.

    Check out the full set of stories here.

    Interested in more science and technology news? Email us your question at shortwave@npr.org.

    Support public media with NPR+ and enjoy perks for over 25 podcasts like this one. This show’s perks include sponsor-free listening. Learn more at plus.npr.org.

    See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

    NPR Privacy Policy


    © NPR |Original Episode URL. The content, artwork and advertising within this podcast is not owned or affiliated with Sound Carrot and remain the property of their respective owners.


    Find your next favourite Podcast

    Sound Carrot is your source for Family Podcast Discovery. Verified awesome, 0% boring.

    Privacy Focused

    Distraction free website, no flashing banners or adverts to steal your attention.
    (Some shows do contain their own ads however).

    Kid verified

    At first I made this site for my kids, but like any dad I got a little over excited. I hope you find it as useful as they do.

    Family Friendly

    Whether you want to listen to them together in the car, or alone in your room - the content is all safe for younger ears.