Stop counting em dashes!
- Deron Fuller
- Jul 24, 2025
- 2 min read
I don’t care how many em dashes there are; I’m concerned about the written product, not the process.
Caveat #1: Let’s set aside issues of AI’s factual errors, intellectual property theft or academic integrity challenges. They're real issues, but they won't be solved in a LinkedIn post.
✍️ Great writers will become great writers with a feedback system that will make them even better. Confident writers relish the opportunity to play with an expression and see if AI can come up with something even more perfect.
✏️ Good writers will save time and will learn from the AI suggestions.
🤔 Bad writers have a chance at getting their ideas across with readable copy.
Let’s take just one example: the CV. A great writer no doubt crafts a well-organized CV with all the right job-specific jargon. But AI will almost certainly have more up-to-date understanding of the language that passes automated applicant tracking systems.
A good writer might have a CV without typos, but the vocabulary might be unprofessional or not industry-specific. And it took a long time to write.
A bad writer needs spell-check, grammar-check, organization advice and suggestions on where the timeline doesn’t look right.
In all 3 cases, AI affords the writer a chance to improve the copy.
Which brings me to Caveat #2: I’m not suggesting blindly accepting AI’s suggestions - though the bad writer might consider it!
And finally, Caveat #3: I believe with great passion that clear writing and clear thinking are inextricably linked. Putting ideas on paper - organizing them and choosing the right verbs, nouns, prepositions and idioms - remains a valuable skill. I fear, however, that potentially great writers will stop at the “good writer” level.
Which means that potentially great thinkers will not progress beyond the "good thinker" stage.
I’d love to hear impressions from all 3 types of writers. I consider myself a good writer, which is why I made a few AI-inspired adjustments!
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