Jokes aside, I relate to a lot of what you said. Even before I read your closing paragraphs, I wanted to say that I've started avoiding certain phrasing specifically because it's a known telltale sign of AI.
I always used em dashes quite liberally before the AI era, but now I'll often separate clauses with commas even where an em dash would be more impactful, just because I don't want it to appear like I'm using AI. The same goes for narrative devices like lists of three, etc.
But I still enjoy bullet points too much to stop. AI will never take those away from me! Or will it?
I almost closed with this block quote from Scott Smitelli, but figured it was a smidge too aggressive:
“If you find yourself with your finger hovering over the final keystroke necessary to type an em dash, or pausing to decide if you should backspace the occurrence of the word “elevate” that you just typed, ask yourself a simple question: Is this my voice? There’s a good chance it actually is, and in that case you should type what you were planning to type. Because if you don’t, you’re self-censoring. You’re voluntarily surrendering the ability to express yourself in an authentic way. And for what? To avoid the possibility that an Internet Imbecile declares that your words were not your own? We all know that person is an ignorant jackass. Their words aren’t important.
True, true. But here's the thing: It's not only em dashes, bullet points, and convenient lists of three. Self-censorship is like strumming a saxophone. Your fingers get tired, but you make no sound. It's not content, it's silence.
In the ever-evolving, fast-paced world of AI writing, there are numerous red flags to delve into:
🚀 Your words are rockets; they need space to fly.
🤖 Robots mimic things perfectly but soullessly
❌ Words have lost all meaning.
Do I win the AI-detector bingo? I dunno, but it feels like I should, maybe?
One of the best ways of ensuring authenticity in our writing is simply to *stop* using AI altogether. I know this may sound naive, or even heretical, but we really do have a choice here.
Sadly, many people seem to have lost sight of this fact, and I remain amazed that so many *good* writers feel they *need* to use AI, in spite of the clear evidence that using AI for writing (i.e., "cognitive offloading") clearly leads to cognitive diminishment.
I resonate with what you wrote about the AI 'slop' alarm bells. Your observations are so sharp. It's fascinating how quickly things shift. I wonder if this initial awkwardness is a necesary phase for both AI and human users to evolve. Where do we go from here?
"But here’s the thing." - I feel attacked!
Jokes aside, I relate to a lot of what you said. Even before I read your closing paragraphs, I wanted to say that I've started avoiding certain phrasing specifically because it's a known telltale sign of AI.
I always used em dashes quite liberally before the AI era, but now I'll often separate clauses with commas even where an em dash would be more impactful, just because I don't want it to appear like I'm using AI. The same goes for narrative devices like lists of three, etc.
But I still enjoy bullet points too much to stop. AI will never take those away from me! Or will it?
I almost closed with this block quote from Scott Smitelli, but figured it was a smidge too aggressive:
“If you find yourself with your finger hovering over the final keystroke necessary to type an em dash, or pausing to decide if you should backspace the occurrence of the word “elevate” that you just typed, ask yourself a simple question: Is this my voice? There’s a good chance it actually is, and in that case you should type what you were planning to type. Because if you don’t, you’re self-censoring. You’re voluntarily surrendering the ability to express yourself in an authentic way. And for what? To avoid the possibility that an Internet Imbecile declares that your words were not your own? We all know that person is an ignorant jackass. Their words aren’t important.
Yours are.”
True, true. But here's the thing: It's not only em dashes, bullet points, and convenient lists of three. Self-censorship is like strumming a saxophone. Your fingers get tired, but you make no sound. It's not content, it's silence.
In the ever-evolving, fast-paced world of AI writing, there are numerous red flags to delve into:
🚀 Your words are rockets; they need space to fly.
🤖 Robots mimic things perfectly but soullessly
❌ Words have lost all meaning.
Do I win the AI-detector bingo? I dunno, but it feels like I should, maybe?
The tell for me was in the first second sentence - most humans know you can't strum a keyboard
Great catch, it’s one of those “AI or non English speaker?” moments
One of the best ways of ensuring authenticity in our writing is simply to *stop* using AI altogether. I know this may sound naive, or even heretical, but we really do have a choice here.
Sadly, many people seem to have lost sight of this fact, and I remain amazed that so many *good* writers feel they *need* to use AI, in spite of the clear evidence that using AI for writing (i.e., "cognitive offloading") clearly leads to cognitive diminishment.
> https://bra.in/9qwVPD
I resonate with what you wrote about the AI 'slop' alarm bells. Your observations are so sharp. It's fascinating how quickly things shift. I wonder if this initial awkwardness is a necesary phase for both AI and human users to evolve. Where do we go from here?