The Art of the Zag

Deleting your em dashes isn't enough. Internet linguist Gretchen McCulloch on the hidden force driving the anti-AI writing revolution, and what it actually takes to sound nothing like a machine.

About Gretchen McCulloch:
Gretchen McCulloch is an internet linguist and the author of the New York Times bestseller Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language. She is the Resident Linguist at WIRED and co-hosts the linguistics podcast Lingthusiasm.

Chapters:
(00:00) Becoming an internet linguist 
(07:24) When you got online matters most 
(14:41) Is there an anti-AI writing movement? 
(19:19) How the boomer voice got invented 
(28:41) Why we need to sound less like each other 
(38:22) What machine translation teaches us about AI writing 
(46:04) Why the em dash became the villain
(57:25) Gretchen's counterintuitive idea

What is The Art of the Zag?

Best-selling authors and long-time buddies Shane Snow and Joe Lazer explore how to win by zagging when everyone else is zigging—in business and in life. Learn breakthrough strategies for building trust, telling better stories, and winning the AI Age from the world's most innovative founders, authors, and icons. Have an idea for a guest? Email guest@joelazer.com.

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