Artificial intelligence was created to make our lives easier, and in many ways, it has. It can write emails in seconds and generate highly detailed images from a single prompt. Tasks that previously required years of specialized training can now be completed with the press of a button.
However, for people who are highly intelligent, it has also taken away certain language conventions that are now known as “hallmarks of AI.” Many have stopped using them completely for fear of being accused of using AI, even though it sadly brings them a sense of loss.
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Oh, the beloved em dash. Often used as a substitute for commas, parentheses, or colons, this punchy punctuation mark used to be a fan favorite for sophisticated writers. In the English language, they are most commonly used to emphasize an idea or mark a shift in patterns of speaking or thinking. A tool that more advanced writers incorporated to give their work some flair and polish, but unfortunately, that’s part of the reason why AI adopted it as well.
Since large language models were trained with high-quality literature and academic papers, among other sources, the apps quickly picked up a habit of using em dashes excessively. As em dashes then took on a negative connotation for being associated with artificial writing, highly intelligent people started to abandon them in favor of preserving their own human, natural voice. While the em dash shouldn’t be totally written off, it’s now a noticeable style choice that carries baggage, whether the writer intends it to or not.
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The Oxford comma has been the source of a raging debate for years. It’s an optional comma that can be placed before the coordinating conjunction (and, or, but, etc.) in sentences with lists, something like “I need milk, bread, and eggs,” compared to “I need milk, bread and eggs.” The conversation centers around whether the comma serves to clarify the items in the list, or if it’s just redundant and unnecessary punctuation.
However, like em dashes, this is another habit that artificial intelligence uses to sound more intelligent and consistent. Thus, many highly intelligent people have loosened their writing style and ditched the Oxford comma in an attempt to sound more conversational and distinctly human.
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Highly intelligent people have become far more cautious about using the rule of threes in communication. AI models rely heavily on this structure because it sounds rhythmic and satisfying to the human ear. Readers quickly recognized this pattern in AI writing, and they tend to break this symmetry more often to avoid sounding machine-generated.
It’s not inherently a bad thing to use groups of three, especially if it’s the most clear and concise way to get your point across, but highly intelligent individuals are finding different techniques of speaking and writing. Human communication is flawed, full of interruptions and uneven pacing, and many are starting to incorporate this into their communication.
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Kayla Asbach is a writer with a bachelor’s degree from the University of Central Florida. She covers relationships, psychology, self-help, pop culture, and human interest topics.
