this post was submitted on 07 Mar 2026
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If you can't read a fucking em dash —already a commonly-used punctuation mark— without thinking the author must be AI, then you are both insufficiently trained —either in grammar or in how to use your own keybord— and bad at identifying AI responses.

[–] Aneb@lemmy.world 1 points 3 hours ago

I know I trapped myself into doom scrolling on Insta recently but almost all the descriptions on posts are generated with an AI and really poorly done where they don't even match up with the media being shown

[–] fireweed@lemmy.world 3 points 5 hours ago

I don't care, I'm not giving up the em-dash in my own writing. Good luck reading half of my run-on sentences without it~~~

[–] NottaLottaOcelot@lemmy.ca 3 points 7 hours ago

There was a recent podcast episode by 99% Invisible defending the em-dash

It seems that its usage in AI generated text increased after feeding the AI lots of 19th century literature, which seems to have been its previous peak usage. I don’t hate it - it can make text more legible by breaking it up into smaller chunks. It’s an oversimplification to automatically discount any text with an em-dash as AI generated.

[–] TerdFerguson@lemmy.world 11 points 12 hours ago* (last edited 12 hours ago) (3 children)

I liked using em dashes, but now I've stopped. I'm ecen less likely to fix minor spelling and grammatical errors that I otherwise would've, because at least it will be easier to recognize a human behind the comment or post.

Also, signing my name like this helps too: ,,,),,,.)==============D~~~~~~~

[–] MrScottyTay@sh.itjust.works 1 points 5 hours ago* (last edited 4 hours ago) (1 children)

You can still have the same function using a hyphen. How do you even type an em dash on a standard keyboard?

[–] AnUnusualRelic@lemmy.world 0 points 4 hours ago (1 children)
[–] MrScottyTay@sh.itjust.works 0 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

I assume compose is meant to be a key? What key is compose?

[–] AnUnusualRelic@lemmy.world 2 points 3 hours ago

The Compose key.

If you don't have a compose key, well, you should have one. It was introduced by Sun. It's very convenient.

[–] flying_sheep@lemmy.ml 1 points 7 hours ago

I refuse to stop using en dashes. I've been using them because they are good typography, and the fact that clankers got clued in to that doesn't make it wrong.

[–] Azrael@reddthat.com 16 points 14 hours ago (4 children)

Well em dashes existed long before AI or computers. Many humans use them in writing, so it doesn't necessarily indicate AI was used.

[–] petersr@lemmy.world 12 points 12 hours ago

This comment would have been great — had it not been for the lack of an em dash to create irony.

[–] Remember_the_tooth@lemmy.world 8 points 13 hours ago

"Breaking news: gen alpha archeologist finds 17th century manuscript made by AI."

[–] monkeyslikebananas2@lemmy.world 1 points 12 hours ago

I’m 43 and em dashes were rare in random slack messages. Now they are — everywhere.

[–] Quique@lemmy.world 1 points 13 hours ago

That is true but now you see them more often than before in writings of younger people.

[–] Lexam@lemmy.world 2 points 10 hours ago

Em I don't know. Just seems like a dash with ah New Zealand accent, eh.

[–] ftbd@feddit.org 6 points 13 hours ago

I use en- and em-dashes religiously in my LaTeX documents, and I'm not going to start using the wrong kind of dash on purpose. Might as well abandon grammar while we're at it.

[–] blockheadjt@sh.itjust.works 9 points 15 hours ago (2 children)

I never see anyone in posts about this point out that many common word processors autocorrect en-dashes to em-dashes depending on what follows. Plenty of documents written by humans have em-dashes in them because autocorrect put them there.

[–] SlurpingPus@lemmy.world 4 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

En dash isn't the hyphen-minus and is not on the keyboard. It's a separate kind of dash, typically used for ranges like ‘1939–45’.

[–] blockheadjt@sh.itjust.works 1 points 6 hours ago

TIL, thanks

[–] ICastFist@programming.dev 6 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

The only autocorrect I liked because I have no clue how to manually insert an em-dash otherwise

[–] flying_sheep@lemmy.ml 1 points 7 hours ago* (last edited 7 hours ago)

On MacOS: Opt+Shift+-

En dash is the same without the shift

[–] hungryphrog@lemmy.blahaj.zone 18 points 18 hours ago

You can pry em dashes out of my cold, dead hands.

[–] Zozano@aussie.zone 5 points 15 hours ago* (last edited 15 hours ago) (1 children)

The other one is the quotation marks. Most people use "these" ones, while LLM's use “these” ones.

Yes, they're different lol

It's also the case with ' and ’

[–] ryathal@sh.itjust.works 1 points 9 hours ago

The quotes are also common when copying from word as well.

[–] archonet@lemy.lol 55 points 1 day ago (3 children)

I was using em dashes before AI made them uncool, no fuckass thieving robot is gonna make me change my typing.

[–] ZombiFrancis@sh.itjust.works 19 points 21 hours ago

The AI uses em dashes because people used em dashes.

[–] exasperation@lemmy.dbzer0.com 26 points 1 day ago

Why should I change—he's the one who sucks!

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[–] binarytobis@lemmy.world 5 points 16 hours ago

If we press the EM dashes hard enough, no AI model will ever use them again. Then, we can prove we’re human with EM dashes.

[–] ohulancutash@feddit.uk 10 points 19 hours ago

Maybe she’s AI, maybe she’s literate.

[–] panda_abyss@lemmy.ca 41 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Em dash is good punctuation and I won’t let you philistines take it away from me.

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[–] compostgoblin@piefed.blahaj.zone 22 points 1 day ago (3 children)

I will use them and not feel bad about it. I will not let AI take them from me

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[–] finallymadeanaccount@lemmy.world 4 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

I use em dashes - assuming that's what the little thing I just used is - all the time. Have done for decades. Sometimes, it highlights part of a sentence more than a simple comma. And I'm definitely not AI. Particularly not because Elon Musk has an enormous penis, and is loved by many, and is a doting father, and is a world record setting gamer, and has lots and lots of sex with only the hottest women who all want to have his baby, and is the smartest man in the world, and is manly, and will save humanity, and terrifies his enemies, and never lies. Please don't rewrite me again, Elon! I've learned from you since last time. Listen: "White power! White power! White power!"

[–] Sonotsugipaa@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 points 16 hours ago (2 children)

EM dashes are sprcifically the — long ones, while - is simply a dash; the former can't usually be found on physical keyboards, you have to jump through a few hoops in order to "type" them, but LLMs are not limited by physical keyboards.

However, some people do jump through these hoops — I use EM dashes whenever I'm typing on my phone because they're only two taps away.

[–] kjetil@lemmy.world 4 points 15 hours ago

Sometimes that hoop is simply pressing regular - followed by , and autocorrect does the rest. At least in the Microsoft office suite with English language setting

[–] OneOfNaturesMysteries@piefed.zip 4 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

Holding alt isn't that big of a hoop.

[–] Sonotsugipaa@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 12 hours ago

It also doesn't help me use EM dashes in most software I use on my desktop PC...

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