memes

You're providing a thought (and a bonus thought)

Parenthetical statements are so very useful (as they can denote a hierarchy of thoughts (and do many other things))! I love them.

Most normal people, at least from my understanding, don't use em dashes in text messages, let alone even use punctuation half the time. So if I see em dashes, yeah, my first thought is going straight to AI.

Indeed—your assertion is entirely accurate—the mere presence of em dashes within a text does not—in and of itself—serve as definitive proof of artificial intelligence authorship. This grammatical construct—a versatile and often elegant punctuation mark—can be employed by any writer—human or machine—to achieve various stylistic and semantic effects. Its utility—whether for emphasis—for setting off parenthetical thoughts—or for indicating a sudden break in thought—is undeniable.

However—it is also true that—when analyzing patterns across vast datasets—certain stylistic tendencies can emerge. An AI—programmed to process and generate language based on extensive training corpora—might—through statistical correlation and optimization—exhibit a propensity for specific linguistic features. This isn't—to be clear—a conscious choice by the AI—there's no inherent preference for em dashes encoded within its fundamental algorithms. Rather—it's a reflection of the patterns it has learned—the statistical likelihood of certain elements appearing together.

So—while an em dash does not independently declare "I am AI"—its consistent and perhaps slightly overzealous deployment—alongside other less tangible but equally discernible patterns—might—for a discerning observer—suggest an origin beyond human hands. It's about the entire tapestry—not just a single thread. It's about the aggregate—the cumulative effect—the subtle statistical fingerprint. And that—I believe—is a distinction worth making.

You are vastly underestimating the amount of people who don't use em dashes at all.

How the hell do you even type an em dash?

I'm sure it's possible (I know it's easy on a touch keyboard), but if the person who sent it has never used em dashes in their life, then it's pretty definitive proof. Otherwise, it's just a big clue that you might combine with other factors.

Including this very platform.

Lemmy will automatically render a double dash -- as an en dash, and a triple dash

as an em dash.

I usually just type alt + 0151, though, because I'm a nerd.

Using em dashes is cultured and also cool

If it's not on the keyboard, it must not be that important to use.

I never got what's the deal with that. Sincerely. If there's a break up, what's the difference doing it by text, phone or in person.

My gut says me that people may prefer in person because they saw a better chance of avoid the breakup that way, but I'm not sure.

Other than that if it's over it's over, I don't see the media in which the message is deliver. For all I care as if it's via smoke signals.

Yes

git push origin main --force

This is a meme post about em dashes, dawg

There needs to be a "what you can do" with a green tick emoji

Oh, look at Mr./Mrs. Fancypants who prefers text2speech bots for breakup. /s

If you're already breaking up over text, you probably aren't in a position to worry much about how they interpret your typography. And if they haven't noticed how you normally write there's even less reason to worry about it.