Julian OliverMay 26
Do we need a term (probably German) for the anxiety that one's work might look like it was generated by machines?
Show threadJulian OliverMay 26

I heard from someone near me today that to make your work appear less like it was machine-generated the emerging rule is that you should not use the 'em dash', nor write in paragraphs, rather one text block.

I have prior heard another say that text summaries at the end of an article are seen as indication of genAI use, as is text free of typos.

Has anyone heard of other references to behaviour-change born of such anxiety?

Show threadJulian Oliver
This article shared by @slackline has some strongly-related fight in it https://www.theringer.com/2025/08/20/pop-culture/em-dash-use-ai-artificial-intelligence-chatgpt-google-gemini
Stop AI-Shaming Our Precious, Kindly Em Dashes—Please

Human writers have always used the em dash. In fact, it’s the most human punctuation mark there is.

May 26 at 8:57amWeb
Show threadohirMay 26

@JulianOliver
> always used the em dash

Yeah – crowds blame humans for using what the #siliconiac had stolen.

@slackline

Show threadCourt Cantrell won't conformMay 27
@JulianOliver @slackline As a human novelist, I intend to keep using em dashes to my heart's content. I've used them for 30+ years, they have served me well, and I'm not gonna let AI ruin them for me!