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 (run #2: 3 current + 3 vintage models, 3 matched registers, 1,392 samples)
| current AI | vintage AI (2024/25) | humans (matched) | canon (great pre-AI prose) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| pooled | 76.40 | 10.41 | 4.24 | 50.93 |
| hn | 90.21 | — | 8.57 | |
| cooking | 57.75 | — | 1.08 | |
| parenting | 94.39 | — | 0.00 | |
| 32.60 | — | — |
regex: [“”]