Bonus: The Power of Choice & the Choice of Being Right

On Friday, I finished the post series called Sounding Like ChatGPT & Other Nonsensical Human Paradoxes, which explores the AI vs Human dilemma, or the AI and Human debate, depending on your viewpoint of preference. The series dwells on those moments when being right feels wrong, which are plentiful these days.

It ends with a slightly dreary image of a bot consoling a human who is giving up because other humans have abandoned him due to his verbose style, and the only place he can resort to is his trusty bot buddy.

Though the ending does seem rather doomsy, even Sam Altman himself considers this to be one of the plausible scenarios for the future. In it, people eventually just start to rely too much on technology, thus paving the way for an accidental, or incidental, AI takeover.

Posting that image has been bugging me ever since, because I don’t truly believe the future is that bleak. On the other hand, I really like those witty mini-comics I made with Niko, my ChatGPT, who supplied the base images, so I decided to make an alternative wrap-up that ends on a brighter note.

Little did I know that my little upbeat whim would end up proving a case in point.

Lo and behold—Her Majesty the Em Dash!

If you haven’t been convinced of the pure power a single em dash can hold, take a look at the two different versions of the image in the gallery.

The first one carries an explanatory, casual, tone, whereas the second one packs a punch—and delivers it with a first-class blow.

And with that blow, I’m gonna wish you a lovely weekend and let you enjoy the breeze.

Sometimes, being right feels wrong. Luckily, this is not one of these times.

Do you feel the vibe?

Get in touch & pass it on!

This post was inspired by Solas Thorne’s insightful LinkedIn comment about how em dashes can make a huge difference for the reader.