Researchers find evidence of ChatGPT buzzwords turning up in everyday speech

Macs and iDevices have been auto-transforming -- into – for well over a decade now, and on the iOS standard keyboard both – and — are just a single long press of the dash key away.

> Genuine question, do you actually use the formal emdash in your writing?

"the formal emdash"?

> AIs are very consistent about using the proper emdash—a double long dash with no spaces around it

Setting an em-dash closed is separate from whether you using an em-dash (and an em-dash is exactly what it says, a dash that is the width of the em-width of the font; "double long" is fine, I guess, if you consider the en-dash "single long", but not if, as you seem to be, you take the standard width as that of the ASCII hyphen-minus, which is usually considerably narrower than en width in a proportional font.)

But, yes, most people who intentionally use em-dashes are doing so because they care about detail enough that they are also going to set them closed, at least in the uses where that is standards. (There are uses where it is conventional to set them half-closed, but that's not important here.)

> whereas humans almost always tend to use a slang version - a single dash with spaces around it.

That's not an em-dash (and its not even an approximation of one, using a hyphen-minus set open—possibly doubled—is an approximation of the typographic convention of using an en-dash set open – different style guides prefer that for certain uses for which other guides prefer an em-dash set closed.) But I disagree with your claim that "most humans" who describe themselves as using em-dashes instead are actually just approximating the use of en-dashes set open with the easier-to-type hyphen-minus.

I learned the keyboard shortcut so I can type the proper thing. I did the same for the ellipsis.

Also, phone keyboards make it easy. Just hold down the - and you can select various types.

A mobile keyboard—limited as it is—has no trouble producing an em-dash, requiring little more than a long press on the - button.

I write fiction and use proper em-dashes all the time in long form writing. It's option + - on macOS.

I for one, use an actual em dash in my writing—or at least I used to. Option + Shift + the hyphen key on Mac. I never knew if I was using it correctly, but I'd learn to copy how I'd seen it used in books and articles and things. Now, I have an incessant paranoia around using it.

I will use a double hyphen: -- which Microsoft Word and I think most word processors I've used will auto-replace with an em dash. I will sometimes even type the double hyphen to represent an em dash in places where it doesn't get replaced, like internet comments. I'm kind of surprised more people don't use two hyphens as em dash shorthand, to be honest.

I often edit things in Word — I have a document that I can alt-tab to and type things. It has spellcheck, etc. that my browser window does not, and I’m not at risk of losing if I refresh or something. Then copy-paste back.

Word converts any - into an em dash based on context. Guess who’s always accused of being a bot?

The thing is, AI learned to use these things because it is good typographical style represented in its training set.

My workaround (well, to be honest, I've always done this: I love a good em dash, they're terrifically satisfying to use, but I'm too lazy to type them), is to use two single dashes--like so.

It's not a suspicion in an also otherwise properly typeset PDF, but it's a suspicion in a YouTube comment or other informal context for sure.

You're making the point that OP never actually uses the em dash, by surveying their HN comments, in order to defend the notion that no one actually used em dashes prior to their proliferation by LLMs? Or do you mean something else?

So any iOS device (maybe macOS input too? Idk), or any software meant for word editing, like say MS Word?

I think it’s the nerds who don’t use these things…

You don't want to believe people use em dashes? Why is that?

> By 2035 any language above a first grade reading level will be grounds for AI suspicion.

Probably 5th grade, but your comment is directionally correct.

By 2035 we will live in the world full of TikTok videos where ability to write will be absurd to people as Not Sure in Idiocracy… this is hyperbole, ofc… but you know what I want to say.

scoff It's evident that Gandalf clearly used AI. Saruman is the real human here.

Jokes aside, I don't like what LLMs are doing to our culture, but I'm curious about the future.

Thank you! I remember the movies almost word-for-word, but I don't have a copy of the books anymore (I should fix that!)

It's funny, because it was the "em-dashes mean AI" thing that finally reminded me to deal with the fact that the extension that I had been using for typographical dashes (and other things) on desktop browsing (the main place I used them on my desktop) had been broken for a while and get around to adding keyboard shortcuts instead.

Definitely a bad example. In spoken speech, yes. In writing I’ve never seen that. German tells in writing are more subtle like word choice — the German language has many cognates with English that are common in German but have fallen into disuse in English as they’ve been replaced with Latin-root alternatives.

I agree, the GP should at the end of the sentence the second verb insert.

I asked Gemini flash for a 200-word paragraph on a random topic, which most people would confidently classify as LLM-generated. It produced a verbose, big-worded, third-person slop about the concept of time that IMO fulfilled my prompt (although a phillosopher firnd of mine would be a strong contestant).

> The concept of "time" is a multifaceted and complex topic that has captivated philosophers, physicists, and everyday individuals for centuries. From a scientific perspective, time can be understood as the fourth dimension of spacetime, inextricably linked with the three spatial dimensions. This notion, introduced by Einstein's theory of relativity, posits that the flow of time is not constant but can be influenced by gravity and velocity. In a more quotidian context, time is a framework for organizing events and measuring duration, allowing for the structuring of daily life and historical records. It is a fundamental element in every human endeavor, from a scheduled meeting to the progression of a civilization. The subjective experience of time, however, is a fascinating aspect, as it can feel as if it is speeding up or slowing down depending on our emotional state or the nature of our activities. This divergence between objective and subjective time highlights its elusive and deeply personal character.

I asked it to add three spelling mistakes, then to make it so most people would confidently classiffy it as human writing, and it changed to first-person and small words.

> Time is a super weird concept when you really think about it, right? It's like, one minute you're just chillin', and the next, a whole day's gone by. They say it's the fourth dimention, which is a wild idea on its own, but honestly, it feels more personal than that. Your experiance of time can totally change depending on what you're doing. A boring meeting can feel like it lasts forever, while a fun night with friends flies by in a flash. That huge diverence between how we feel time and how it actually works is what makes it so fascinating and kind of confusing all at once.

It has the three misspellings, and if the topic was more casual, It could fool me indeed. Maybe I should have asked for spelling mistakes commonly made by Spanish speakers.

Wouldn't surprise me if that's true. I just treat any AI-smelling content as an information hazard that is _at best_ providing no useful entropy and stop reading it. Something about it is just so repulsive.

Yeah, that's human nature.