I am a lover, perhaps over-user, of the em dash, and I fear that it is the canary in the AI collateral damage coal mine. (Apologies for the mixed metaphor.) Inevitably, publishers wanting to filter out submissions written by AI will follow in the footsteps of universities and begin using AI tools to detect AI writing, and given the bias and flawed nature of AI systems, a growing number of writers will suffer unfounded accusations and ill-advised rejections. I don’t know that I’ve been a victim of overzealous anti-AI slush pile readers or overzealous AI-based AI writing detectors—I don’t know, but I do worry. I worry that my typical writing style—semiformal, mostly complete sentences, not particularly conversational in tone, and lots of em dashes—is the kind of style that is susceptible to such false accusations. My response is to try to not worry about it, and instead focus on continually crafting and discovering my own voice, and trying to sound more like me each day.
I hadn't read that -- I skimmed quickly, and will read more closely later. Thanks for that!
Yes, it is a disturbing issue, that's for sure. I think what worries me most though is that some people use em-dashes to discern AI-generated text and maybe can't tell otherwise. It's the Turing Test, but in reverse. Suddenly, we're forced to prove that we're *not* a machine.
I try not to worry about it either, but that's a scary thought...
I use em-dashes, not frequently but sometimes. I had no idea that some people associate them with AI generated writing. Too bad for them! If some are considered Luddites re use of AI, I'm in the stone age.
Funny, most Canadian media don't capitalize headlines, but I do. I treat them like the titles of the articles.
In Canada, where defending Canadian spelling has always been an issue, things like ChatGPT is making things worse. They say you can tell AI-generated text by the fact that there aren't any spelling mistakes. Except that there are a ton of them if you're in Canada, because it's all in US spellings...
Very frustrating for a grammarian like myself!
I know you speak several languages -- do other languages use em-dashes?
I find this whole kerfuffle about dashes pretty funny, because until a few years ago I never used them in my writing. I had a tendency to use .... ellipses. Maybe it's because I'm a native French speaker and I can't recall em-dashes in French literature (we actually use the long dash to mark dialogue, instead of " or '). So when I figured how to do them on my keyboard, a few years ago as I said, I realized how useful these little critters were. They're in my toolbox now, not overused, I still "ellips" at times ....
I love ellipses...! I'm very loose in terms of where I use it -- according to some article I read, I'm doing it wrong. But, whatev... I like to use them to say, "Hey, you fill in the blanks!" or "Hey, you know what I'm saying..." and so on.
I've seen dashes used in books before -- and not just French. Roddy Doyle's Love: A Novel uses them. (https://www.amazon.com/Love-Novel-Roddy-Doyle/dp/1984880454 - you can see them being used in the sample...) I do like the look of it on the page!
I do some editing for a digital marketing company, and I noticed a preponderance of em dashes as they moved to AI to aid in writing. (Since em is a valid word in Scrabble, I don't use the hyphen, which would turn it into an adjective, no?) They don't have spaces around, which just looks weird, and they are so overused that they become a distraction. I love the em dash for all the reasons you do, Graham, and I hate seeing it mis-used. Call me a Luddite - I'm good with that.
Most people don't use the hyphen after "em", so no judgement here! I tend to prefer combining words that have a single meaning, such as "healthcare". (The German language is great at this!) So, instead of adjective/noun of "em dash", I like the one noun approach of "em-dash". But again, that's a personal stylistic preference and has nothing to do with grammar rules -- of any English convention.
Yes, for whatever reason, AI was trained to use the em-dash more than the average person. Paranoid me thought at one point that the AI companies studied my writing in particular. (It didn't help that narcissistic-me was egging paranoid-me on...) I wonder if it's writers who tend to use it, and non-writers who need to write anyway and started to use AI to do it, noticed the em-dash as one of the "features" of AI? Not sure, but it makes sense.
In any case, Luddites unite! Let's take back the em-dash!
Yes, the Finns have a lot of great words! I'm in Thunder Bay, which has the largest populations of Finns outside of Finland -- I'd say you'd see more Finnish than French if you're talking about store signs, restaurants, etc.
I find it to be an intimidating language though, mostly (I think) because it isn't based on any other languages in the region. Amazing though how these languages evolve over thousands of years! Imagine -- it might have been around in an earlier form during Neanderthal times...
I do use the em dash a lot and didn’t even know that it had become controversial. This might explain why I was told that something I wrote was smelling of AI - I guess I was as boring as a school administrator.
For the record, I love your writing. It's logical and straightforward, which is a particular strength given the topics you write about. But you add whimsy and wit, and that just adds to the vibrance and vitality.
So yeah -- must have been the em-dash thing! There's no way your writing could be described as boring.
Thanks for the feedback on the new format! I was more nervous than I should be about the changes (I mean, it's just a Substack channel...), but it seems to be received well!
I like the vibe they give. I'm not sure how I landed on the idea -- redesigning the format was mostly an organic thing. I always liked the doodle sketches of Paris in the Paris Review, so that probably contributed to it. I have a subscription to Adobe Stock for my day job, so I sifted through doodles to see what there was. The Subscribe button actually came last, just a couple of days ago.
I, too, love the em dash and use it often when writing my novels. I use the full em dash in Microsoft Word in manuscripts—with no spaces—despite the American vibe, as that’s how my publisher uses it. But here on Substack, my keystroke shortcut for the full em dash doesn’t work so I revert to two double dashes that Substack automatically removes into one—I assume—en dash. I don’t actually remember—or know—how to create a true em dash on Substack. Either way, I confess I hadn’t realized that people would suspect my writing is AI-generated if I persisted in using em dashes. Well dash them all to grammar hell—I’m not abandoning my trusty em dash!
Great post, and I like the new format and the more frequent posting.
I love em-dashes and ellipses. And I love starting sentences with And, But, and Or. I'm a rebel, I guess. 😏
I am a lover, perhaps over-user, of the em dash, and I fear that it is the canary in the AI collateral damage coal mine. (Apologies for the mixed metaphor.) Inevitably, publishers wanting to filter out submissions written by AI will follow in the footsteps of universities and begin using AI tools to detect AI writing, and given the bias and flawed nature of AI systems, a growing number of writers will suffer unfounded accusations and ill-advised rejections. I don’t know that I’ve been a victim of overzealous anti-AI slush pile readers or overzealous AI-based AI writing detectors—I don’t know, but I do worry. I worry that my typical writing style—semiformal, mostly complete sentences, not particularly conversational in tone, and lots of em dashes—is the kind of style that is susceptible to such false accusations. My response is to try to not worry about it, and instead focus on continually crafting and discovering my own voice, and trying to sound more like me each day.
By the way, I highly recommend this article about the collateral damage: https://marcusolang.substack.com/p/im-kenyan-i-dont-write-like-chatgpt.
I hadn't read that -- I skimmed quickly, and will read more closely later. Thanks for that!
Yes, it is a disturbing issue, that's for sure. I think what worries me most though is that some people use em-dashes to discern AI-generated text and maybe can't tell otherwise. It's the Turing Test, but in reverse. Suddenly, we're forced to prove that we're *not* a machine.
I try not to worry about it either, but that's a scary thought...
I use em-dashes, not frequently but sometimes. I had no idea that some people associate them with AI generated writing. Too bad for them! If some are considered Luddites re use of AI, I'm in the stone age.
lol - I'm with you!
What I find interesting is that the Capitalised Headlines really started to make inroads in Europe. It has a lot to do with AI.
I find the topic of em-dashes so confusing. Your post confused me even more haha
Funny, most Canadian media don't capitalize headlines, but I do. I treat them like the titles of the articles.
In Canada, where defending Canadian spelling has always been an issue, things like ChatGPT is making things worse. They say you can tell AI-generated text by the fact that there aren't any spelling mistakes. Except that there are a ton of them if you're in Canada, because it's all in US spellings...
Very frustrating for a grammarian like myself!
I know you speak several languages -- do other languages use em-dashes?
I love em dashes and semicolons; I’ve always used them liberally—and will continue to do so.
Hear, hear!
I find this whole kerfuffle about dashes pretty funny, because until a few years ago I never used them in my writing. I had a tendency to use .... ellipses. Maybe it's because I'm a native French speaker and I can't recall em-dashes in French literature (we actually use the long dash to mark dialogue, instead of " or '). So when I figured how to do them on my keyboard, a few years ago as I said, I realized how useful these little critters were. They're in my toolbox now, not overused, I still "ellips" at times ....
I love ellipses...! I'm very loose in terms of where I use it -- according to some article I read, I'm doing it wrong. But, whatev... I like to use them to say, "Hey, you fill in the blanks!" or "Hey, you know what I'm saying..." and so on.
I've seen dashes used in books before -- and not just French. Roddy Doyle's Love: A Novel uses them. (https://www.amazon.com/Love-Novel-Roddy-Doyle/dp/1984880454 - you can see them being used in the sample...) I do like the look of it on the page!
I do some editing for a digital marketing company, and I noticed a preponderance of em dashes as they moved to AI to aid in writing. (Since em is a valid word in Scrabble, I don't use the hyphen, which would turn it into an adjective, no?) They don't have spaces around, which just looks weird, and they are so overused that they become a distraction. I love the em dash for all the reasons you do, Graham, and I hate seeing it mis-used. Call me a Luddite - I'm good with that.
Most people don't use the hyphen after "em", so no judgement here! I tend to prefer combining words that have a single meaning, such as "healthcare". (The German language is great at this!) So, instead of adjective/noun of "em dash", I like the one noun approach of "em-dash". But again, that's a personal stylistic preference and has nothing to do with grammar rules -- of any English convention.
Yes, for whatever reason, AI was trained to use the em-dash more than the average person. Paranoid me thought at one point that the AI companies studied my writing in particular. (It didn't help that narcissistic-me was egging paranoid-me on...) I wonder if it's writers who tend to use it, and non-writers who need to write anyway and started to use AI to do it, noticed the em-dash as one of the "features" of AI? Not sure, but it makes sense.
In any case, Luddites unite! Let's take back the em-dash!
If you think the German language is good at it, have a look at Finnish! The cottage on the lake becomes thecottageonthelake.
Yes, the Finns have a lot of great words! I'm in Thunder Bay, which has the largest populations of Finns outside of Finland -- I'd say you'd see more Finnish than French if you're talking about store signs, restaurants, etc.
I find it to be an intimidating language though, mostly (I think) because it isn't based on any other languages in the region. Amazing though how these languages evolve over thousands of years! Imagine -- it might have been around in an earlier form during Neanderthal times...
Kiitos!
I do use the em dash a lot and didn’t even know that it had become controversial. This might explain why I was told that something I wrote was smelling of AI - I guess I was as boring as a school administrator.
I love the new format!
Must be AI-related!
For the record, I love your writing. It's logical and straightforward, which is a particular strength given the topics you write about. But you add whimsy and wit, and that just adds to the vibrance and vitality.
So yeah -- must have been the em-dash thing! There's no way your writing could be described as boring.
Thanks for the feedback on the new format! I was more nervous than I should be about the changes (I mean, it's just a Substack channel...), but it seems to be received well!
Thank you very much Graham. It means a lot coming from you!!
I too love the em-dash and tend to keep the hyphen in it. And I’m down with this short, punchy post.
Thanks for the feedback Tom -- glad you're liking it!
And yes, I didn't realize how many people were passionate about the em-dash until recently! I thought it was just one of my own quirky things... lol
Oh, and Graham: I also love the new little illustrations for the share button, etc. Tell us about those.
Glad you like them!
I like the vibe they give. I'm not sure how I landed on the idea -- redesigning the format was mostly an organic thing. I always liked the doodle sketches of Paris in the Paris Review, so that probably contributed to it. I have a subscription to Adobe Stock for my day job, so I sifted through doodles to see what there was. The Subscribe button actually came last, just a couple of days ago.
I, too, love the em dash and use it often when writing my novels. I use the full em dash in Microsoft Word in manuscripts—with no spaces—despite the American vibe, as that’s how my publisher uses it. But here on Substack, my keystroke shortcut for the full em dash doesn’t work so I revert to two double dashes that Substack automatically removes into one—I assume—en dash. I don’t actually remember—or know—how to create a true em dash on Substack. Either way, I confess I hadn’t realized that people would suspect my writing is AI-generated if I persisted in using em dashes. Well dash them all to grammar hell—I’m not abandoning my trusty em dash!
Great post, and I like the new format and the more frequent posting.
Thanks, Terry!
I believe the Substack em-dash is the full three-hypen kind. I don't write in Substack, so all my em-dashes get imported from Word.
I do edit in Substack though, and every time I add an em-dash, I have to remember to go back to copy and paste from an existing one.
Glad to hear the AI thing hasn't affected you at all! It's a bit of an eye opener, that's for sure.