The em dash has been my favourite punctuation mark for a long, long time.
They used to be annoying to type.
I kept one in a local file so that I could easily copy and paste it, and appreciated software that automatically replaced -- with —.
My favourite new feature from iOS 11 was the ability to type an em dash by holding the hyphen key, and I loved the simple key combination on Mac once I switched from Linux.
Even so, I would often still use a double hyphen in my private communications, like messages to friends and coworkers. It's quicker to type, despite the shortcuts, and everyone understands what it represents.
Then LLMs made the em dash common enough to become an "LLM tell". People started avoiding them — and instructing their AIs not to use them — because they didn't want others to know or suspect that they were generating their writing with an LLM. Paradoxically, I've started using them more.
Over time, using the double hyphen has made me increasingly self-conscious. The heightened visibility of the em dash makes me hyper-aware that I can easily type the real thing. Rather than feeling savvy for using any kind of em dash at all, I feel lazy for approximating it. Yes, I've been successfully influenced by the LLMs.
I've even started considering the en dash, which I've never bothered to use before. Because why stop at em dashes anyway? There's something spiffy about "Monday–Friday" compared to "Monday-Friday". It actually takes one fewer key to type the en dash than the em dash on Mac, so I really have no excuse.
Other people have responded to the "LLM tell" by replacing em dashes with a single hyphen.
This drives me nuts.
A hyphen is a real grammatical mark with a different purpose; at least -- visually represents an em dash.
Honestly, this simple replacement in otherwise obviously LLM-generated text is fooling no one.
Just own it!
I personally don't really care if people assume that I write with LLMs just because I use em dashes. I write with UK-leaning Canadian English anyway, while LLMs default to American English. And I'm not going to Americanise my spelling — I'm patriotic, damn it! Not to mention, it's muscle memory at this point.
I'm generally pro-automation, and think that turning thoughts into symbols is a good use of it. Where I sometimes have concerns is using an LLM to generate the thoughts, but I think it's pretty obvious that doesn't apply here.
Some other em dash fans have gotten quite upset about the mark's association with LLMs. They take pride in their writing, including their human uses of the em dash. I understand the feeling, but grammar was never much of a differentiator anyway.
I used to take pride in my ability to write exceptionally clean and reliable Bash code. From my perspective, high-quality Bash was one of the first things that LLMs were really good at. My uncommon skill became useless nearly instantly.
It was exciting! I no longer had to put so much effort into making Bash decent. That was never the most interesting work. And now the quality of Bash code is increasing throughout the world! If the same thing happens to prose, that seems like a net positive to me.