this post was submitted on 10 Feb 2026
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Programming

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[–] codeinabox@programming.dev 9 points 1 week ago (4 children)

There is much debate about whether the use em-dash is a reliable signal for AI generated content.

It would be more effective to compare this post with the author's posts before gen AI, and see if there has been a change in writing style.

[–] Mac@mander.xyz 5 points 1 week ago (2 children)

I toned down mu em-dash usage because i don't want people to think it's AI :(

[–] MagicShel@lemmy.zip 6 points 1 week ago

I tuned my usage up once I realized it is universal punctuation. I used to be unfamiliar with it and agonize over which punctuation was best for a given sentence. Can't decide between a comma, semi-colon, comma clause, parenthetical, or what-not — just use an emdash and don't fucking worry about it.

I'm pretty sure I haven't been accused of being an LLM. Despite my lazy command of the emdash and comfortability with multisyllabic and archaic words, I think LLMs come across as insufferable bores and I don't think I do that — not to that degree, anyway.

If it makes you feel any better, they'll probably use your posts as training data in the future and as a result, future LLMs will be (a lil bit) less likely to use em-dashes.

[–] paraphrand@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Aww you’re no fun. Stop with the nuance.

[–] codeinabox@programming.dev 1 points 1 week ago

My nuanced reply was in response to the nuances of the parent comment. I thought we shared articles to discuss their content, not the grammar.

[–] rimu@piefed.social -1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

That is not the only sign in that blog post, just the most obvious one.

[–] queerlilhayseed@piefed.blahaj.zone 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Please dish if you feel so inclined. I thought it felt very "blogger who has written a lot of blog posts" but I didn't get any AI smell.

I've known for a while that one day the day would come when I wouldn't be able to pick out the AI artifacts, and I'd join the throngs that chase the will o' wisps through the dead internet. Maybe this is it for me.

[–] rimu@piefed.social -2 points 1 week ago

Copy and paste it into an AI detector. Especially the bit about the abstraction tower.