I realised I’ve been using the em dash (—), apparently a marker of an AI-generated text, rather more frequently than before. Is that because I am now working with AI more closely and regularly (probably a few hours a day), or is that something I remember seeing (which I most certainly do) in Dreyer’s English—a brilliantly witty book on language, recommended by a dear (and delightfully pedantic) friend a couple of years ago? I don’t know which of these two it is, but I have a question: How has your writing (or even speech) changed since you started engaging with Artificial Intelligence?
In other news, I’ve been accused of copy-pasting AI-generated content on Reddit (the preferred haunt of 13–25-year-olds, where I occasionally lurk and, every so often, play the role of the old uncle—given that I seem to be the only one with a handle that’s my actual bloody name!). Why, you ask? Apparently, nobody uses “complicated” words like vacuous, precocious, or gargantuan, writes in full sentences, avoids glaring spelling or grammatical errors, or dares to pen anything over 100 words (if at all)—unless, of course, they’re simply messing about with ChatGPT. Or so the young believe.
To be fair, I’ve been called out for bad English in the past (it’s hardly new), but as I grow older, I suspect I’ll be called out increasingly for good English. How’s that for a sign of senility?
P.S.: Yes, I know I’ve used way too many em dashes here. Just to see how far I could go! And tell you what, it’s fun.
