AI’s “Liberal” Voice by Denis Podany
As a blue-collar worker, this is my view of AI.
It’s 2026, and somehow, we’re arguing about artificial intelligence like it’s the new bloke at work who already annoys everyone. Some say AI is left-leaning, some say it’s neutral, and the rest of us are just trying to get it to answer a straight question without sounding like a BBC presenter.
But here’s the truth – and it’s simple enough for anyone who’s ever fixed a boiler or done a proper day’s graft: AI doesn’t think. It doesn’t believe. It doesn’t “lean” anywhere. It’s basically a fancy parrot with a calculator. Yet people swear it sounds liberal, in the American sense of the word. Not because it necessarily is, but because it talks like the institutions that trained it – universities, HR departments, government, and anyone else who thinks “robust dialogue” is a normal thing to say in real life.
Where the Liberal Tone Comes From (Short Version)
For years, the ‘official’ voice of Britain has been cautious, polished, and terrified of upsetting anyone. Civil servants, lecturers, managers — they all learned to speak like they’re tiptoeing across a minefield. And AI soaked all that up like a sponge.
So now, when you ask a simple question, it answers like it’s writing a report for a parliamentary committee, not chatting with a normal human over a cuppa. It’s not politics – it’s just copying the safest style it’s seen.
Why People Think It’s Biased
Let’s be honest: When something avoids straight answers, hedges every sentence, and apologises more than a teenager caught sneaking in past midnight… people assume it’s “woke.” But AI isn’t pushing an agenda. It’s trying not to get into trouble. It’s been trained by institutions that treat every subject like a potential lawsuit, so it speaks like one too. That’s all. Tone, not belief.
How to Get AI Talking Like a Normal Person Again
Here’s the bit no one tells you: You can shift AI’s “Overton window” just by telling it how to talk. You don’t need politics. You just need style.
If you ask it for straight-up British plain speaking, a no-nonsense, tradesman tone, simple language without academic varnish, old-school common sense … it’ll talk that way immediately.
The default voice is narrow only because the training material is narrow. But you can widen it in seconds by asking for something more realistic, more practical, more human. It’s like telling the apprentice to stop reading the manual and just say what he means.
Here is what I write in the AI speech bubble, and then ask my question afterwards: “Using historic Britain common sense perspective and without the leftist technical jargon.”
The Blue-Collar Bottom Line
AI isn’t left. AI isn’t right. AI is a mirror. Most of the data it’s been trained on comes from cautious, polished institutions – so it talks like them. But the moment you say, “Oy, drop the corporate-speak and give it to me straight,” the machine switches gears without a fight.
Final Sound Bite
AI only sounds “liberal” because no one taught it how normal people actually talk. Give it a blue-collar tone, and suddenly the “bias” disappears. Finally, it feels like talking to someone you can understand. The platforms we trust and use. All the podcasts and social media can teach it to be your learned friend.
Enjoy your answers!
Image credit on main page: perchance.org AI image generator