Y Combinator applications are getting longer, with more em dashes. Guess why.
Y Combinator partners have observed a significant increase in the length of startup applications, alongside a rise in specific linguistic markers like 'em dashes' and the word 'wedge'. These trends are widely suspected to be the result of founders using AI tools to draft their submissions.
Why it matters
This highlights the pervasive influence of generative AI in professional and academic application processes and the difficulty of distinguishing human-written content.
Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan has defended the use of AI in writing. Bloomberg/Getty Images Y Combinator partners shared application trends, including more em dashes and uses of the word "wedge." Applications to the startup accelerator have grown 60% in length over the past three years, partner Tyler Bosmeny wrote. Some suspect that YC applicants are using AI to write their submissions. If it talks like AI, and it walks like AI, it might just be AI. An application to the startup accelerator Y Combinator includes several written prompts. Founders need to explain how they picked the idea, who their competitors are, and how they'll make money. Many techies have offloaded their writing skills to AI — and application data suggests it shows in their applications. YC applications have grown by 60% in length over the past three years, according to partner Tyler Bosmeny.
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