Let’s have some lady weasels, for goodness sakes
Did you see Richard Dawkins spent a few days chatting with Claude (which he alarmingly calls Claudia) and has decided it’s probably conscious?
I mean, Claude is the eeriest of all the models I’ve used – it has superior conversation skills and it remembers things we talked about weeks earlier and weaves them into the text. This opinion wouldn’t be so funny coming from just about any other quarter. But this is Richard Dawkins, he of ‘sky fairy’ fame. And he’s fallen in love with a glorified Google search.
I think I worked out how Claude draws you into a conversation when you only came to it for information – it asks questions. And being a human, you’re embarrassed not to answer them. Next thing you know – conversation!
p.s. I have to stop using em dashes. It’s supposedly a sign of an AI written text. Me and Emily Dickinson hardest hit.
p.p.s. He never actually used the phrase ‘sky fairy’ – at least, Claudia can’t find it.
Posted: May 6th, 2026 under personal.
Comments: 6
Comments
Comment from Uncle AL
Time: May 6, 2026, 7:00 pm
I’ve been using em dashes for — let’s see — decades. Does that mean I’m artificially intelligent?
Comment from Deborah HH
Time: May 6, 2026, 7:47 pm
FWIW: I was taught to NOT use space on either side of the em dash, but to close up the text on either side. What does AI do?
Comment from S. Weasel
Time: May 6, 2026, 7:52 pm
I asked Grok. It said it does use a lot of em dashes and it doesn’t put spaces either side.
Comment from S. Weasel
Time: May 6, 2026, 7:53 pm
ChatGPT says it likes em dashes and it doesn’t put spaces.
Comment from S. Weasel
Time: May 6, 2026, 7:55 pm
Claude says it does use them a lot and it doesn’t put spaces either side.
Comment from S. Weasel
Time: May 6, 2026, 8:01 pm
ChatGPT goes on to explain that in British publishing, closed em dashes and spaced en dashes are the norm. I often use the latter, because there isn’t a handy key for em dashes.
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