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358 points tkgally | 1 comments | | HN request time: 0s | source

The use of the em dash (—) now raises suspicions that a text might have been AI-generated. Inspired by a suggestion from dang [1], I created a leaderboard of HN users according to how many of their posts before November 30, 2022—that is, before the release of ChatGPT—contained em dashes. Dang himself comes in number 2—by a very slim margin.

Credit to Claude Code for showing me how to search the HN database through Google BigQuery and for writing the HTML for the leaderboard.

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45053933

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Andrew_nenakhov ◴[] No.45077791[source]
Ironically, I personally prefer good typography, but unless the editor for the desktop app is autocorrecting -- to —, I usually don't bother. But when I type on the phone with screen keyboard, I almost always do bother, even though entering text on mobile is objectively slower and more difficult and often with fewer options.
replies(1): >>45078678 #
1. JdeBP ◴[] No.45078678[source]
In this particular case, the options for mobile 'phone keyboards are greater rather than fewer. The em dash is a first class citizen on the "writer" layouts in ThumbKey, for example.

* https://github.com/dessalines/thumb-key