Stop Accusing Writers of Using AI Just Because They Use Em Dashes
· Vice
The other night—while decompressing after a long day of writing—I was scrolling through comments on an Instagram post and spotted one that stopped me dead in my tracks: “This was clearly written by AI. The em dashes are a dead giveaway.”
I’ve never jumped out of bed and started pacing in anger so quickly in my life.
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Are we serious? Are we so far gone that the proper use of punctuation is an apparent indicator of AI?
How many of you assumed this very article was AI-generated, thanks to the two em dashes in my first sentence? Unfortunately, I’d guess at least a quarter of you had that initial thought.
While I fully understand the urge to call out AI content, nothing boils my blood quite like a reader who falsely accuses writers of using AI merely because they include em dashes in their content. I, for one, have been relying on the em dash since middle school. If you were to read my moody Tumblr poetry from that time, you’d be quick to rescind that accusation. As a writer, I’d marry the em dash if I could.
So you could imagine my rage at this random Instagram comment on someone else’s post—someone I don’t even know, mind you. Surely, it was an overreaction on my part…I can admit my faults.
But as hard as I tried to continue scrolling and ignore this ignorance, the allegation—which didn’t even involve me, at least not directly—has continued to gnaw at me for days.
And so, instead of cursing out the well-intentioned, albeit misinformed, commenter or ripping the hair out of my head, I decided to write this article. The pen is mightier than the sword, as they say.
The AI-Generated Downfall of the Em Dash
AI is trained to use punctuation marks and sentence structures commonly found in editorial content and literature written by human artists, scholars, and professionals. ChatGPT is not pulling the em dash out of its nonexistent a**. It’s mimicking real, talented, and passionate writers—not the other way around.
And unfortunately, many of today’s readers are so used to consuming social media captions written in all lowercase letters with lazy abbreviations that they lack exposure to real literary tools.
“Part of me thinks the current situation with the em dash is ridiculous, but part of me also thinks we’ve gotten to this point to some extent because many people simply weren’t as familiar with this punctuation mark before it became more frequently used in AI-generated text,” says Erik Gfesser, President of Fesswise LLC, whose own writing has been falsely flagged by AI detectors.
“As an avid reader as well, I tend to come across the em dash more frequently when more elevated writing is involved. For example, I come across it much more frequently in literature and some periodicals such as The New Yorker magazine,” Gfesser continues. “Readers not exposed to such reading material likely don’t come across em dashes as frequently, so if they suddenly see these being used on a regular basis it’s not surprising to me that they might make broad generalizations about the authorship.”
The Case for the Em Dash
To many non-writers, this might sound like a simple fix: Just don’t use the em dash anymore. To which I’d reply…over my dead body. Why should writers cheapen our own content just to avoid baseless accusations?
“I refuse to let AI take away punctuation that can make writing more interesting,” says Adeline Yorgason, writer and content specialist at Inkhouse, a communications and marketing agency. “I have and will continue to use them strategically. After all, AI learned how to write from real human writers, and I will not let it bully me into silence.”
“The em dash is an integral piece of an author’s toolkit. It allows dialogue to stop and start and shift direction, reflecting how people actually speak,” adds award-winning author S.M. Stevens. “It makes in-depth descriptive passages easier to follow, rather than getting bogged down in an excess of commas or, heaven forbid, semicolons. (Semicolons always feel Victorian to me.)”
AI’s Devastating Impact on Writers
As a writer in the AI era, I’m already competing against individuals and companies that do, in fact, outsource their jobs to AI. Now I have to worry about being falsely accused of sleeping with the enemy every time I use my favorite punctuation tool?
Fortunately—and unfortunately—I’m not alone in my grief.
“As a writer who has loved the em dash since the dawn of time, the idea that a few em dashes in written content now often translates to ‘this was written by AI’ is painful to watch,” says Yorgason. “Good writing requires time. It requires something of the soul, and AI takes all of that away. When you’ve taken the time to write a piece of content and then get accused of using AI, especially because you’ve done something as simple as use a few em dashes, it can be gut-wrenching.”
“The fact that em dash use is seen as proof of AI-generated prose or content is potentially devastating,” Stevens adds. “That’s not hyperbole, because being falsely accused of using AI for your writing can be career-ending.”
It’s true: I’ve even heard of writers losing their jobs because they were falsely accused of using AI. (Newsflash: those AI detectors are highly inaccurate.) And before you argue, “Well, only a terrible writer would get flagged as AI slop,” remember where these LLMs learned their tricks. Sure, a distinct voice and creative writing style might override an AI detector, but that’s not always the case.
Perhaps that’s why I take this knee-jerk reaction of ignorant feedback so personally.
As Stevens so eloquently states, “Any person—or any technology trained by a person—who evaluates writing based on em dash usage has a moral imperative to broaden their criteria and leave the humble em dash alone!”
You can accuse me of using AI—the very tool that threatens my career and livelihood every single day—all you want. I won’t be removing the em dash from my writing.
As for the skeptics, well…perhaps it’s time to expand your reading horizons.
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