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No, Em Dashes Are Not a Sign of AI.
It’s just bad writing and lazier editing.
The end of the literature didn’t start with a bang…
It started with the em dash.
Of course. I’m kidding, but it kind of feels like that right now, doesn’t it? If you’re a writer on the internet, you have probably heard a strange little myth that the “em dash” is obviously the primary sign of crappy AI writing because no human would ever use such versatile punctuation.
This is just one of many posts I saw touting that same old story:
And worse yet…
That’s not the only punctuation being villainized as the hallmark sign of AI writing tools. Nope. The ellipsis has also been brought under scrutiny. (Fuck why did I use it again!?) Even the sparkle emoji has now been shunned and shamed for having the audacity to exist.
✨ RIP Sparkle emoji. You’ll be missed.✨
At this rate, simply using words will become a sign of AI.
We’re all doomed.
Well, writers are anyway.
