AI is Taking Over Serif Fonts

As public outcry against the pervasive nature of artificial intelligence grows, the shared endeavor to identify—and reject—recognizable signs of its application persists.

One of the earliest victims, to my disappointment, was the em dash—which is a wonderful and distinctly human punctuation mark, by the way! There’s also the “rule of threes,” designed to flow rhythmically, but often ends up feeling predictable, clichéd, and outdated. Additionally, we have the awkward grammatical structures of the “not X, but Y” format.

Now, certain fonts and typefaces—specifically serifs—appear to be characterizing (and exposing) AI, both in actual software and in stylistically coded design templates. Some have dubbed it “tasteslop,” the outcome of attempts to make generative AI designs appear superficially polished or refined.

The movement away from more overtly computerized typefaces is something San Francisco Bay Area writer, designer, and type practitioner Keya Vadgama has labeled “the serif renaissance.” In a recent newsletter on her Substack, Vadgama proposes that this shift aims to allow companies to convey more “personality and warmth.”

“It’s clear why AI-native businesses are gravitating toward serif fonts: AI lacks emotion and perspective,” she states. “[Utilizing serifs] conveys ‘We’re AI! But real people designed (and worked on) our product! We promise!’”

“Serifs have roots in calligraphy,” Vadgama explains to WIRED. “They represent a very human, fluid method of forming letters.” She has observed that Anthropic’s Claude defaults to serifs. Other AI companies—Runway, Perplexity, Manus—have similarly embraced such typefaces in their user experience and branding.

When contacted for a statement, Perplexity’s chief communications officer Jesse Dwyer told WIRED: “Why wouldn’t we incorporate human design? Perplexity is for people.”

Vadgama believes the choice of serifs is as much about aesthetics as it is about fostering confidence between users and brands. Certain font selections can subtly signal trust, even on a subconscious level. Sans serifs (like Arial, Calibri, Helvetica) are perceived as too clean, too robotic. Traditional fonts like Times New Roman and similar designs often evoke a sense of dignity. Recently, Vadgama worked on branding for a now-defunct AI startup that preferred serif text. “A big part of it,” she says, “is about positioning ourselves in a manner that alleviates fear.”

Serifs can foster that sense of assurance, or at least the appearance of it. Times New Roman was commissioned in the 1930s by Britain’s Times newspaper. This typeface carries a significant authoritative weight. It’s commonly used in books and newspapers. It became almost standardized in the years preceding the digital age. Notably, the Encyclopedia Britannica—perhaps the definitive collection of human knowledge before the internet—was set in Times.

“In the general public, a serif evokes connotations of scholarship,” states Ali S. Qadeer, chair of graphic design at the Ontario College of Art and Design in Toronto. “Claude is interesting. It uses a slightly brown background that mimics a book page. It’s trying to replicate the sensation of reading print. And print resonates with deeper associations of trust.”

According to The New York Times, even the US State Department has reverted to using Times New Roman after Secretary of State Marco Rubio criticized Calibri as “informal,” attributing the department’s shift to the sans serif typeface to some broader, Biden-era DEI initiative.

Both Qadeer and Vadgama view the trend towards serifs as a response to AI’s perceived (and indeed, actual) lack of soul, reflecting the broader public skepticism surrounding the technology. They are not alone in this observation. In addition to the “tasteslop” discussions, people online have labeled the trend of serifying AI aesthetics as “generic” and “very ugly.”