All lifeforms in Star Trek speak similar English. It's an obvious production logistic retcon workaround in the form of a universal translator. The real-world implications of a hearing everything spoken through a universal translator though, is under-theorized.

I'm currently reading Dune Messiah (book #2). The way I'm reading it is potentially more interesting than the story itself.

You see, Frank Herbert's use of language in Dune is insufferable. However I still want to read it for the narrative, but the style is getting in the way.

So I came up with a blasphemous use of LLM: re-write the novel in the style I approve of. In this case, it's as if I've had LLM re-render the novel by Cormac McCarthy solely for my pleasure.

The story came out the same way, the narrative did not get lost, but the outcome is so much more palatable. I suspect I even picked up on subtleties I would've missed otherwise in the original Herbert text.

Which got me thinking: by the end of this, had I read Dune?

Well, assuming you do not read Russian, have you actually read War & Peace? The English translation you've read is not functionally that different from machine-McCarthy version of Dune.

Take it a step further. If the only version of Avengers Endgame I've ever watched is an anime-drawn version of it with the exact same pacing, actors, set, plot etc., have I actually watched Avengers? I think so.

But if the only version of Star Wars I've ever seen is drawn in the style of South Park, I can't claim to have seen Star Wars because the visuals are a big component of the product that's been taken away.

This is a media Ship of Theseus.

Some day I will have to attack Martin Heideggar this way too, hopefully I don't have to pretend to understand him by then.

Now that my experiment works so well, there's a chance you are reading this in the far future in a form re-written for your comprehension, stripping yourself of the annoyances of my written voice.

You may have the habit of reading/watching/listening to everything in its machine-translated version.

Some of your friends may wear glasses that re-renders the real-world with rainbows, glitters and HDR.

It is no longer universal translator we're dealing with, it's a universal lens.

As far as media goes, style and substance get to come separately. They are no longer required to come in a bundle. As a mediocre writer, I think I'm more willing to be judged for the lack of substance than clumsy combo of both.

It's one thing that nobody watches the same TV shows anymore. This is a whole other level: nobody experiences the world in the same way anymore, even when they are looking at the same thing at the same time.