Dev argues AI assistance is about effort and intent, not em dashes

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A software developer on DEV Community explains that a hand injury forced them to dictate a recent post, with AI handling transcription cleanup while all ideas and arguments remained their own. They push back against the popular trend of dismissing AI-assisted writing based on stylistic markers like em dashes, calling it a zero-effort substitute for actually engaging with content. The author draws a clear distinction between genuine 'slop'—prompts shipped unread for engagement farming—and deliberate, iterative work where a human directs every meaningful decision. They describe a rigorous development process involving multiple review agents, repeated iteration, and deep personal expertise built over decades in computer science and networking. Their core argument is that the tool used matters far less than the effort and judgment a human brings to the work.

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