Comment by mkbelieve

5 months ago

As someone who leans heavily on emdashes, this has all been very annoying.

Same here! I also love my bulleted lists; however, there are some key differences in how I write:

- *Less formatting*: I don't start every bullet point with bold text

- *Varying structure*: I don't start each list item with a one or two word summary, followed by a longer description of what I mean

- *Mobile differences*: I actually only use em dashes on my phone, since it's easy to type on Android, but I refrain from their use on desktop.

  • Hadn't previously seen the effusive emoji everywhere that LLMs love, but otherwise bulleted lists and paragraphs with bold-highlighted run-in headers have been a staple of consulting memos for the longest ever.

    Very effective way to summarize reports, recommendations, or analysis. IME well-received and appreciated by those consuming complex info for the first time.

    Still love the style, though one does need to soft-shoe it so as to not scream "this is LLM copypasta!"

Or someone who uses an iPhone/iPad. WTF, it's like no one's heard of autocorrect before.

Edit: And here’s me using fancy curly quotes. Maybe that’s an AI signal as well?

  • > And here’s me using fancy curly quotes. Maybe that’s an AI signal as well?

    It’s an iOS vs. Android signal.

Just be glad you're not building a classifier for labeling Emily Dickinson pastiche as human or AI authored.

A Vibe is not a Function—

Yet—how it compiles so—

An unseen kind of Language—

That only Coders—know—

Agreed, I love the emdash, and I have 20 years' worth of online writings that are positively peppered with those flat fellas. I have no intention of abandoning the character yet, but the future may be a bleak place for handsomely-formatted asides. It gives one pause.