active · formatting · first recorded 2026-07-02 · registers: hn, cooking, parenting
Models emit “curly” quotes; humans typing into a web form produce "straight" ones. 7–26× the human rate depending on register. Partly a platform artifact, not a style choice — but as a signal it's nearly free.
Weak on its own (word processors also produce curly quotes) — meaningful in combination.
⚠ also common in good human writing (collateral score 0.67 — the closer to 1, the more it also fires on acclaimed pre-AI prose)
…one of those rare “boring is good” moments…
occurrences per 10k words, measured 2026-07-02 (run #3, 3 current + 3 vintage models)
| current AI | vintage AI (2024/25) | humans (matched) | canon (great pre-AI prose) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| pooled | 91.71 | 8.75 | 6.37 | 50.93 |
| hn | 110.53 | — | 12.51 | |
| cooking | 59.17 | — | 1.08 | |
| parenting | 127.98 | — | 0.78 | |
| 32.31 | — | — |
| run | date | AI /10k | vs humans |
|---|---|---|---|
| #2 | 2026-07-02 | 76.40 | ×18 vs humans |
| #3 | 2026-07-02 | 91.71 | ×14 vs humans |
regex: [“”]