As a former journalist and someone who uses APA and Chicago styles in my editing work, I am on the side of no spaces on the ends of em-dashes. Same for en-dashes. I'm also a convert to the serial comma, which I adamantly opposed previously, because it is standard in these academic styles. In regard to how to recognize something written by AI, I think it's more useful not to focus on mechanics like punctuation (I've always loved dashes) or even those "it's not this, but it's that" structures or other things recognized as AI patterns To me, the writing done by AI is flat. It lacks a human spark—a soul, if you will. it can sound very eloquent in the turns of phrase that it has plagiarized from wherever it learned them, but there's still a sense of something missing. A deadness, almost. No matter how well large language models learn to imitate human speech, they will never be able to imitate the human spark of creativity.
Thanks for sharing your experience! I agree while patterns support the bigger message, I prefer the heart of it all to be something only a human has lived and feels strongly about. The AI can riff on what you give it, but like what you said, otherwise it's GIGO (Garbage In, Garbage Out).
My stance is don't use it at all. There is already evidence of lowered brain connectivity in people who use AI for writing. Creativity is a human superpower. Don't outsource any part of that process to a robot unless you want to put yourself on the road to being transhuman. It's a steep and slippery slope, in my opinion.
It's not em dashes that are the problem. It's writing that signals low-value.
^ and there I borrowed on a low-value (rhetorically effective) turn of phrase that's become ubiquitous with AI.
As with every type of communication, the way things are expressed influences how they are received. What is the point of communicating if how you communicate costs you your audience?
An important question.
I am a long-time em dash user and professional content creator. I don't like how em dashes are currently en vogue as a signal of AI because I know there's so much great writing (some of the best writing) that uses em dashes. I believe, though, that soon people will be looking for other Patterns (like my use of "It's not X. It's Y").
Thank you for speaking up and chiming in! That's an elegant way to put it — em dashes are symptomatic of what's missing overall. I believe while this phase will pass, it IS painful and will take some patience before the next thing. Presentation style counts for a lot in marketing, and I don't mean "spam" but simply appealing to an audience. I've heard "It's not X. It's Y" referred to as contrastive/parallel structure and I've done it too.
Also, Un-AI-ify is a brilliant punmanteau that works on multiple levels!
Brilliantly put. Loved your analogy to overused lens flare and early Photoshop effects—it captures the learning curve and the snobbery that often follows it.
And you're dead right about the tech friction being part of the problem. On macOS, the dashes are a breeze. On Windows, it’s either Alt-codes or your own layout. Which I built, naturally. Because that’s what you do when your brain insists on a certain kind of punctuation flow. 😛
Thanks for the thoughtful write-up—and the EM DASH LOVERS compilation. It feels oddly affirming to see punctuation treated with the reverence (and irreverence) it deserves.
Thanks also for the reply on your own site, I observe the snobbery is symptomatic of other things too, like people who pull in their previous (limited) experience or cite friends ("My dad works at a publishing house...") as an excuse/resistance. And when I politely but firmly show they're spreading misinformation, their so-called justification gets even more illogical — like conspiracy theorists! What's also bizarre are preposterous claims against AI tools by those don't use them regularly, unlike the people they're attacking. But on a foundational level, there's human fear of change.
At least I'll have the open mind to try something a little different—and learn something in the process. 🤣
As a former journalist and someone who uses APA and Chicago styles in my editing work, I am on the side of no spaces on the ends of em-dashes. Same for en-dashes. I'm also a convert to the serial comma, which I adamantly opposed previously, because it is standard in these academic styles. In regard to how to recognize something written by AI, I think it's more useful not to focus on mechanics like punctuation (I've always loved dashes) or even those "it's not this, but it's that" structures or other things recognized as AI patterns To me, the writing done by AI is flat. It lacks a human spark—a soul, if you will. it can sound very eloquent in the turns of phrase that it has plagiarized from wherever it learned them, but there's still a sense of something missing. A deadness, almost. No matter how well large language models learn to imitate human speech, they will never be able to imitate the human spark of creativity.
Thanks for sharing your experience! I agree while patterns support the bigger message, I prefer the heart of it all to be something only a human has lived and feels strongly about. The AI can riff on what you give it, but like what you said, otherwise it's GIGO (Garbage In, Garbage Out).
My stance is don't use it at all. There is already evidence of lowered brain connectivity in people who use AI for writing. Creativity is a human superpower. Don't outsource any part of that process to a robot unless you want to put yourself on the road to being transhuman. It's a steep and slippery slope, in my opinion.
It's not em dashes that are the problem. It's writing that signals low-value.
^ and there I borrowed on a low-value (rhetorically effective) turn of phrase that's become ubiquitous with AI.
As with every type of communication, the way things are expressed influences how they are received. What is the point of communicating if how you communicate costs you your audience?
An important question.
I am a long-time em dash user and professional content creator. I don't like how em dashes are currently en vogue as a signal of AI because I know there's so much great writing (some of the best writing) that uses em dashes. I believe, though, that soon people will be looking for other Patterns (like my use of "It's not X. It's Y").
A thoughtful post. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you for speaking up and chiming in! That's an elegant way to put it — em dashes are symptomatic of what's missing overall. I believe while this phase will pass, it IS painful and will take some patience before the next thing. Presentation style counts for a lot in marketing, and I don't mean "spam" but simply appealing to an audience. I've heard "It's not X. It's Y" referred to as contrastive/parallel structure and I've done it too.
Also, Un-AI-ify is a brilliant punmanteau that works on multiple levels!
Yes yes yes, I love em dashes. I will die on that hill. Very informative on a topic so close to my heart ♥️
Brilliantly put. Loved your analogy to overused lens flare and early Photoshop effects—it captures the learning curve and the snobbery that often follows it.
And you're dead right about the tech friction being part of the problem. On macOS, the dashes are a breeze. On Windows, it’s either Alt-codes or your own layout. Which I built, naturally. Because that’s what you do when your brain insists on a certain kind of punctuation flow. 😛
Thanks for the thoughtful write-up—and the EM DASH LOVERS compilation. It feels oddly affirming to see punctuation treated with the reverence (and irreverence) it deserves.
PS: Spaces around the EM dash?! The horror... 😂
Thanks also for the reply on your own site, I observe the snobbery is symptomatic of other things too, like people who pull in their previous (limited) experience or cite friends ("My dad works at a publishing house...") as an excuse/resistance. And when I politely but firmly show they're spreading misinformation, their so-called justification gets even more illogical — like conspiracy theorists! What's also bizarre are preposterous claims against AI tools by those don't use them regularly, unlike the people they're attacking. But on a foundational level, there's human fear of change.
At least I'll have the open mind to try something a little different—and learn something in the process. 🤣
Thank you for noticing the naming wordplay. And for reminding me of the contrastive as a way to describe it.
(Also a fan of spaces around em dashes btw.)