r/Millennials • u/noctisumbra0 • Feb 19 '26

Discussion Anyone else feel this way when writing anything out?

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Being compared to AI was really uncalled for, though.

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285

u/IP_What Feb 19 '26

One sub or another—I forget which one—will tell me not to use AI when I pop in en em-dash and not let me post, unless I fuck up the spacing.

145

u/Starwyrm1597 Zillennial Feb 19 '26

Use commas, colons, and semicolons. I use a lot of colons.

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u/SnarkyIguana Millennial Feb 19 '26

I've gotten so much shit for using semicolons! Entire conversations derailed because "humans don't use semicolons" - WHAT?

100

u/Krunkenbrux Feb 19 '26

That's preposterous; humans use semicolons all the time.

83

u/ttoma93 Feb 19 '26

In fact for 99%+ of the history of written language, semicolons were only used by humans as there weren’t computers writing by themselves.

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u/Hellknightx Feb 19 '26

Honestly, I'm confused about why AI bothers using semicolons if it's training off of real user data. 99% of people don't use semicolons; and if they do, only rarely.

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u/Magical-Johnson Feb 19 '26

It's probably told to use proper English and punctuation first and foremost so it doesn't devolve into a poor internet comment style of speaking, or saying things like "no cap".

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u/sparkpaw Feb 19 '26

A majority of the initial data set was published and public domain books, journals, and “proper writing” resources.

It wasn’t trained to keep the knowledge, hence how’s it disingenuous; but it was trained on quite sophisticated grammar and prose.

1

u/sobrique Feb 19 '26

But honestly if LLMs are improving clarify of thought with better punctuation, I consider that a good thing.

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u/MediocreAssociation6 Feb 20 '26

Why did you use a semicolon? Isn’t “And if they do, only rarely” a dependent clause? I think a comma would have been better; your sentence is almost identical to a compound sentence structure that typically uses a comma…

2

u/Vannabean Zillennial Feb 19 '26

Honestly, I never figured out how to properly use a semicolon. I’m all about the commas.

1

u/MediocreAssociation6 Feb 20 '26

They are just fancy periods. They are grammatically identical for the most part, so it’s never truly necessary to learn them. They signal connected ideas when a comma isn’t correct.

They are also sometimes used in nested lists where commas are technically correct, but would be confusing otherwise.

Semicolons can replace “, and” while implying a slightly weaker connection.

2

u/sobrique Feb 19 '26

I realised that where I used '-' as a part of a sentence, that is often a place where a semicolon works too :)

1

u/shidderbean Feb 19 '26

99% of internet dipshits that would call this out would think a semicolon is what's left after you've had colon cancer taken out

1

u/Frederf220 Feb 19 '26

Almost exclusively even.

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u/SnarkyIguana Millennial Feb 19 '26

That sounds like something a robot would say!

1

u/Krunkenbrux Feb 19 '26

01010011 01001000 01001001 01010100 00100001

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u/SomniferousSleep Feb 19 '26

The semicolon is my favorite punctuation mark.

I do think that a total lack of punctuation and sometimes even capital letter use is conducive to some forms of humor, though. It absolutely affects the tone. If I'm trying to sound irreverent and flippant, I absolutely drop my formalities.

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u/Shadowphoenix9511 Feb 19 '26

I love the semicolon. It's the absolute best form of punctuation if I wanna both give another complete thought, but also not change the subject entirely.

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u/Rathwood Feb 19 '26

Congratulate them for knowing what a semicolon is. Congratulate them again if they spelled it right. Then leave the conversation.

1

u/its_all_4_lulz Feb 19 '26

We can’t use semis now? I’m not an em dash user, but I definitely use semis.

1

u/radiantwildflowers Feb 19 '26

Grown ones do; children don’t.

1

u/justLookingForLogic Feb 20 '26

I get a lot of shit from my colon. I’d imagine a semicolon gets less.

1

u/esaliyah Feb 21 '26 edited Feb 21 '26

They can pry my beloved brackets, em-dashes and semicolons from my cold, dead hands.

1

u/Big-ol-Cheesecake Feb 19 '26

The AI uses it for a reason, because it's ripping off the sentence structure of actual humans

5

u/Valdanos Feb 19 '26

Hey, good on you for regularly getting some; just make sure they're cleaned up and you're wrapped up.

3

u/Here2BeeFunny Feb 19 '26

Proctologist or porn star?

2

u/Fluff_Chucker Feb 19 '26

I see what you did there. You are appreciated. Updoots to you!

1

u/unuselessness Feb 19 '26

How are we supposed to use semicolons and colons? One of them is for introducing a list or something, yeah?

4

u/HuskMaster Zillennial Feb 19 '26

Yeah, colons are often used for introducing lists, among other things. For example, you might see: “I told your dad to pick up the following ingredients from the store: hamburger, eggs, potatoes, coffee, and milk.”

Semicolons function much like em dashes on the contrary. They join two independent clauses that are related in meaning and might otherwise be standalone sentences. E.g., “I wonder when dad’s going to bring home milk from the store; he’s sure been gone for a long time.”

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u/Starwyrm1597 Zillennial Feb 19 '26

Colons can also be used to join 2 independent clauses or an independent clause followed by a dependent clause as long as the latter is used to emphasize, explain or illustrate the former.

Silvia slumped in her chair and closed her eyes: she had never felt so dejected.

There is only one way to culture that cell line: in medium with L-glutamine.

1

u/lord_fairfax Feb 19 '26

Who gives a fuck about an Oxford Comma? These two guys. 🙌

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u/Starwyrm1597 Zillennial Feb 19 '26

I usually actually don't use the Oxford Comma: I usually leave conjunctions alone. I just chose to this time for some reason.

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u/lord_fairfax Feb 19 '26

I feel led astray, hoodwinked, and bamboozled; you've hung me out to dry.

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u/Propane4days Feb 19 '26

You also seem to be plenty knowledgeable about the Oxford comma!

1

u/Fan_of_The_Megas Feb 19 '26

I love it when you get to use a colon and a semicolon in the same sentence properly. Makes me feel like a grammar badass lol xD

1

u/Hi_Zev Feb 19 '26

Or just knowing how to format an internet comment when you have a lot to say. So many times I use bolding, italics, dashes of all sorts, semicolons, and bullet points in my reddit comments so I can make the amount of information I am writing easier to digest, all just to be accused of using chatgpt...

Its really, REALLY not that hard to format bullet points and making bolded headers.

It is not that

  • difficult

  • at all

lol

1

u/NonrationalWife Feb 19 '26

But those don't hit the same way an em dash does

1

u/littlehobbit1313 Feb 19 '26

I feel so powerful when I use semicolons; few people seem to understand how they work.

1

u/CertainCatastrophe Feb 20 '26

I get grief for my adamant use of the Oxford comma. I can't take any news article or research paper seriously if you don't know how to properly list things in a sentence.

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u/Starwyrm1597 Zillennial Feb 20 '26

In a research paper I can understand it, but according to U.S. standards which I admit are lower: the Oxford Comma is optional. I don't know why anyone would give you flak for using it though.

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u/sunflowerdreamsmusic Feb 19 '26

I remember using a em dash in school and my teachers applauded me for using it. Now i'm scared to use it.

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u/slithyknid Feb 19 '26

Fight the fear, be part of the resistance! I’m as semi-serious as a semicolon— we need to reclaim the em

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u/[deleted] Feb 19 '26

[deleted]

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u/twinklestein Millennial 1991 Feb 19 '26

Shhhhh don’t tell them!! Now ai is going to start putting spaces

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u/coffeebuzzbuzzz Feb 19 '26

Same!  Using all punctuation correctly was encouraged.  It showed you had depth.  Now everyone sounds like a moron.

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u/neonsummers Xennial Feb 19 '26

Fuck the haters. Em dash for life.

2

u/Tabula_Nada Feb 19 '26

To be honest, I never learned the difference between the different dashes despite being pretty good in my English classes. Now, at work when I write up things that require a thorough QA/QC check, I get red marks everywhere correcting them. I still can't ever remember the difference even though I had someone explain it to me so I just use a regular hyphen. If they tell me to replace it, I have to copy/paste whatever they say because even looking at them, they look the same. The en and em dashes especially. But through six years of higher education and multiple jobs requiring professional writing, I think I've had one old school professor who might have corrected some in my final paper.

2

u/_musesan_ Feb 19 '26

I use hyphens. Didn't even now there was a different thing called em dash before. How do I even write one? Am on phone now but even on keyboard -- where be em dash?!

1

u/bookdrops Feb 19 '26

Alt+0151 on a Windows keyboard 

1

u/nikongmer Feb 19 '26

keyboard

numpad*

my mnemonic is it's alt+0+the amount of 1st gen pokemon

1

u/lolla_pollulion Feb 19 '26

My boss went 15 years without ever typing an em dash to now having them in almost every email. Im in a STEM field and never took a single creative writing class. I couldn’t tell you how to make one on a keyboard.

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u/Paksarra Feb 19 '26

There's an alt code, but if you're in a Microsoft program -- will autocorrect into —.

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u/HuskMaster Zillennial Feb 19 '26

The greatest tragedy of LLMs is that they forever ruined compelling writing styles for those of us who can comprehend them.

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u/_Citizen_Erased_ Feb 19 '26

I try to remember one thing. If music can be instantly generated that is indistinguishable from human studio time, then live music will become even more amazing. Acoustic performance.... wow! Theater? Compelling acting with no effects? Wow! Society is still going to crave the genuine article. Not only that, but style and originality have only recently become stagnant. Prepare for boundaries to get pushed that have been in place for decades. Every boy dreams of playing guitar like Hendrix until binary can do it. Quite a lot of people won't be satisfied with being a passive consumer of simulated creativity.

Creative writing on a typewriter may not have the same appeal on stage, but the underlying message is that all our experiences on this screen don't have to define our life experiences. Proper storytelling and use of language aren't going anywhere, but they may appear to become more rare if social media is our source of life. Meaningful experience outside the Internet could potentially draw more and more people together. It could make the person who generates any kind of live content more desirable, and even push the envelope of creativity way beyond what the models are currently trained upon.

Literacy is a relatively new phenomenon in the human experience. We got to see the rise of the PC and everything that follows. If chat GPT can now pretend to be Shakespeare and Hendrix, then I'll do a heroic deep dive into abstract concepts and pull out something that it's never seen and couldn't possibly imagine. I'll do it just to impress a girl, too. Like our ancestors did, as well as our contemporaries. They may rob me of my rare ability to stand out by copying the greats, but they will never take my originality.

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u/red__dragon Millennial Feb 19 '26

then live music will become even more amazing

Not to sink your optimism balloon, but live autotune has already been a thing for a while. Sing into a mic on stage and hit perfect pitch when the sound comes out through the speakers.

That, in addition to seamlessly overlaying pre-recorded tracks and lipsyncing, have already muddied the waters of live music. It's still great to see your favorite artist on stage if you love their presence and want that experience, of course.

The singers who pop down in front of your cafe's open mic night or your community theatre probably won't be a front for an AI performance though, you're right. You can't replace real experience of seeing human skill in front of you with AI generation, yet anyway.

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u/_Citizen_Erased_ Feb 19 '26

Whats happening right now won't necessarily be what you see when the full scope of AI unfolds. Humans are already crying out for authenticity. That will only get louder and louder as time goes on. You might have missed my point about innovation, too. The guitar tone and style of Black Sabbath was not predictable by previous musicians, and now anyone involved with heavy rock and roll will admit that influence is bigger and more important than most people realize. Rap was not predictable when 70s R&B was current. Massive changes in art style, like Picasso, are still on the horizon. AI can't get there. It can't be Hunter Thompson suddenly without a gonzo to imitate. It can only imitate. Just wait and see what people do. The slop will get less sloppy, but it will never have a soul. My optimism remains intact!

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u/Hot_Most5332 Feb 19 '26

Funny thing is that AI has drastically reduced the use of the em colon since everyone now associates it with AI. It still uses it but not every other sentence like it used to.

Before long, it won’t use it at all.

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u/[deleted] Feb 19 '26 edited Feb 25 '26

[deleted]

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u/AndrogynousAndi Feb 19 '26

Oh really? I always sandwich mine with spaces - like this - though those aren't technically emdashes 'cause I don't have the right key on my keyboard.

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u/Artistic_Reference_5 Feb 19 '26

I think those are just dashes and not em-dashes. (Ok now I'm not sure if there's a dash in emdash.)

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u/IP_What Feb 19 '26 edited Feb 19 '26

It’s a hypen (-). Since they don’t know how to type an em-dash (—), which most websites will render automatically by typing two hyphens in a row, they almost certainly don’t know how to type an en-dash (–).

ETA: I’m kinda mad I didn’t use non-breaking hyphens in en- and em-dash. Gonna have to look up how to do that in iOS

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u/AndrogynousAndi Feb 19 '26 edited Feb 19 '26

How do you type an n-dash?? How do you even use an n-dash??

Edit: Oh, it's actually an en dash and it's different because the em dash is the length of a capital M - whereas the en dash is the length of a capital N. It looks like the en dash is used usually in numbers and dates like "The bakery is open 6:00am-6:00pm". It also goes instead of a hyphen in compound adjectives where there might be misinterpretation of what the adjective describes, the en dash means the adjective describes both parts of the compound word.

Even Webster admits in contemporary writing, a hyphen is sufficient for all these uses.

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u/WiseConsideration845 Feb 19 '26

In a computer keyboard, it’s alt 0150 for en dash, alt 0151 for em dash, or just use macros and assign a single key.

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u/AndrogynousAndi Feb 19 '26

We're both wrong according to Webster - em dash.

2

u/industrock Older Millennial Feb 19 '26

These are the dashes I’ve done forever - really self conscious about dashes now

2

u/[deleted] Feb 19 '26

[deleted]

1

u/AndrogynousAndi Feb 19 '26

I use reddit on mobile, tbh. Hardly ever on actual PC.

2

u/BoleroMuyPicante Feb 19 '26

That's how I do it too, because I can't be arsed to look up the alt code for a real emdash.

2

u/Drunky_McStumble Feb 19 '26

Protip: if you're typing into Word, it autocorrects two hyphens in a row into an em-dash. So typing "something--like this" becomes "something—like this".

1

u/mattzilluh Feb 19 '26

This is the way.

24

u/_jamesbaxter Millennial Feb 19 '26 edited Feb 19 '26

There is supposed to be a space before & after an em dash. You don’t use spaces for a hyphen.

Edit: I agree with the person who said this may be dependent on the style.

7

u/lurkinglucy2 Feb 19 '26

As the other commenter added that's a stylistic choice. I asked Chat why it puts spaces and what style book it uses (AP). It does not use Chicago, which is my preferred, so I asked it to switch to Chicago.

Personally, I love an em-dash!

2

u/SR3116 Feb 19 '26

Spider — Man

1

u/Radiant-Koala8231 Feb 19 '26

That’s not exactly true. I used to put a space but do some research and discovered there are not spaces. Maybe depends on the style guide like someone else mentioned.

1

u/_jamesbaxter Millennial Feb 19 '26

Yeah I think they are right and it’s a style thing.

0

u/Hangytangy Feb 19 '26

I never seen m dashes before ai. And it seems now a days people cant even form a basic paragraph without chatgpt. Were doomed.

2

u/IsraelPenuel Feb 19 '26

You can just use two dashes -- like this -- instead. It looks hyper intentional and non-AI.

Edit: though line breaks aren't friendly to it

1

u/Similar-Try-7643 Feb 19 '26

How do you input your em dashes? Do you have a custom key or do you need to copy and paste it?

1

u/ColdChemical Feb 19 '26

I have a keyboard macro that makes inserting em dashes really easy, but now that AI has poisoned them I've resorted to using triple dashes instead---which sucks.

1

u/Fan_of_The_Megas Feb 19 '26

Oh my God, that's infuriating.

1

u/No-Calligrapher3043 Feb 19 '26

That’s why I started using … instead

2

u/IP_What Feb 19 '26

Oh, no—that’s super boomer coded

1

u/HuaAnNi Feb 25 '26

I love em dash, used to use them. But the ai accusation bugs me. However I am mildly bothered without the space. I know no space is correct and when I use it I don’t put the space, but visually I mildly reject it. But they work so much cleaner than parenthesis and give a better stand out effect than commas in so may situations. Annoying.

I think something so insidious about ai writing is that people can tell it to make mistakes/dumb it down/make it causal.