HomeThe Real Difference: Not One Thing, but Another
Sometimes, things are not only one thing but also another. The phrase "It's not just this — it's that" has become so common in AI-generated writing that it now serves as more than a hint of synthetic content — it's nearly a certainty.
That's why, when I saw a Barron's report on how this sentence structure has surged in corporate communications, I was not merely intrigued — I was genuinely amused. The report didn't just comment on the frequency of this phrasing; it searched the market intelligence firm AlphaSense's database to quantify its use in corporate news releases, earnings reports, and government filings.
According to Barron's, this phrasing is no longer just a quirk of corporate communications — it's an epidemic, rising from about 50 mentions in 2023 to over 200 in 2025.
Image source: Barron's (opens in a new window)
The data isn't the only evidence — I also found some examples from the past year:
“In 2025, AI won’t just be a tool; it will be a collaborator.” (Cisco)“The future of autonomy isn’t just on the horizon; it’s already unfolding.” (Accenture) “DevOps teams are managing not just deployments, but also security compliance and cloud spending.” (Workday)“These systems aren’t just executing tasks; they’re starting to learn, adapt, and collaborate.” (McKinsey)“When Bill founded Microsoft, he envisioned not just a software company, but a software factory, unconstrained by any single product or category.” (Satya Nadella in a Microsoft blog post)“It’s not just about building tools for specific roles or tasks. It’s about building tools that empower everyone to create their own tools.” (The same Microsoft blog post.)“Just imagine if all 8 billion people could summon a researcher … not just to get information but use their expertise to get things done that benefit them.” (Still, that same Microsoft blog post.)It's no coincidence that generative AI tools frequently use this phrase — it's a mirror of our own writing, which these tools were trained on (without our permission, I should note — an act that is not just disrespectful to writers but a violation). And it's not only this sentence structure — em-dashes have also become a telltale sign of AI-generated text.
This isn't just a humorous trend — it's a symbol of how dependent these companies have become on AI (though we can't be certain whether the quotes above were AI-assisted). So next time you see a sentence like that, remember it's not merely a catchy phrase — it might be a symptom of something larger.
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Sometimes, things are not only one thing but also another. The phrase "It's not just this — it's that" has become so common in AI-generated writing that it now serves as more than a hint of synthetic content — it's nearly a certainty.
That's why, when I saw a Barron's report on how this sentence structure has surged in corporate communications, I was not merely intrigued — I was genuinely amused. The report didn't just comment on the frequency of this phrasing; it searched the market intelligence firm AlphaSense's database to quantify its use in corporate news releases, earnings reports, and government filings.
According to Barron's, this phrasing is no longer just a quirk of corporate communications — it's an epidemic, rising from about 50 mentions in 2023 to over 200 in 2025.
Image source: Barron's (opens in a new window)
The data isn't the only evidence — I also found some examples from the past year:
“In 2025, AI won’t just be a tool; it will be a collaborator.” (Cisco)“The future of autonomy isn’t just on the horizon; it’s already unfolding.” (Accenture) “DevOps teams are managing not just deployments, but also security compliance and cloud spending.” (Workday)“These systems aren’t just executing tasks; they’re starting to learn, adapt, and collaborate.” (McKinsey)“When Bill founded Microsoft, he envisioned not just a software company, but a software factory, unconstrained by any single product or category.” (Satya Nadella in a Microsoft blog post)“It’s not just about building tools for specific roles or tasks. It’s about building tools that empower everyone to create their own tools.” (The same Microsoft blog post.)“Just imagine if all 8 billion people could summon a researcher … not just to get information but use their expertise to get things done that benefit them.” (Still, that same Microsoft blog post.)It's no coincidence that generative AI tools frequently use this phrase — it's a mirror of our own writing, which these tools were trained on (without our permission, I should note — an act that is not just disrespectful to writers but a violation). And it's not only this sentence structure — em-dashes have also become a telltale sign of AI-generated text.
This isn't just a humorous trend — it's a symbol of how dependent these companies have become on AI (though we can't be certain whether the quotes above were AI-assisted). So next time you see a sentence like that, remember it's not merely a catchy phrase — it might be a symptom of something larger.
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