Is The Em Dash A Sign Of AI Writing

The Great Em Dash Debate

A peculiar battle is brewing in the world of writing, and the humble em dash—that long, versatile dash—is at the center of it. What was once a simple punctuation choice has become a flashpoint in the age of artificial intelligence, with many now seeing it as a potential tell-tale sign that content was written by ChatGPT. This growing suspicion is causing a stir among writers and raising a much bigger question: Are we getting worse at telling humans and AI apart?

How Punctuation Became an AI Accusation

This entire grammar war reportedly kicked off from a simple developer's observation back in 2024. The idea quickly gained traction and became a viral theory: the frequent use of em dashes could be a clear indicator of AI-generated text. Early language models were often trained on data that led them to overuse certain stylistic tics, and the em dash was one of them. This has led to a wave of online paranoia, where human writers are being flagged or dismissed for using a perfectly valid punctuation mark.

Writers Defend Their Dashes

In response to this AI-shaming, writers are pushing back. In a flurry of recent articles, several authors have come to the defense of their beloved keyboard shortcut. They argue that the em dash is a tool for style, rhythm, and clarity—a legitimate choice that predates any AI. As discussed by commentators Candice Lim and Kate Lindsay, the consensus among many writers is that we shouldn't let ChatGPT's habits ruin a useful piece of punctuation for everyone else.

A Symptom of a Larger Problem

The fixation on the em dash, however, might just be a symptom of a more significant issue. As AI becomes more sophisticated, our ability to detect it seems to be stagnating. We're resorting to simple, unreliable clues like punctuation use because we lack better tools. This raises a critical question for our digital future: are we all doomed to be tricked by a hyphen or two, or will we develop a more nuanced understanding of the line between human and artificial writing?