Forget the em dash: have you spotted AI’s other grammar quirk?

There's a new tell for AI-generated content and it might surprise you...

We all know that AI loves an em dash (here’s an em dash — though I prefer the shorter en dash – cute, right?)

The em dash has become shorthand for calling out AI-generated content. But it’s been sneaking in another grammatical oddity, and once you spot it, you can't unsee it...

So what is it? A humble comma. Somewhere along the way, AI has decided to stick in a comma where most humans would not.

When listing items, AI has decided to separate the final two items with a comma before the ‘and’. It’s like saying “cats, and dogs” instead of “cats and dogs”, adding unwarranted dramatic emphasis, like the beloved exclamation mark some of us sneak in more often than we plan to!

Take a look at job descriptions or someone’s bio listing attributes or responsibilities and this comma shows up time and again. Sometimes even in job ads that specify not to use AI in an application (a discussion for another day).

Look out for the rogue comma and you might be surprised where it turns up.

If you would like some human input, Lucis Strata can help with copywriting, editing, digital marketing,* and communications strategy.

*spot the deliberate mistake — did you see it?