Can we talk about the em dash for a minute?
Because apparently it’s canceled.
Not because it’s incorrect.
Not because English teachers have spent the last fifty years lying to us.
Nope.
Because AI uses it.
As someone who has made a living writing for the last sixteen years, I have thoughts.
Lots of them.
I’ve written books, blogs, magazine articles, websites, marketing campaigns, speeches…if it involves words, I’ve probably been paid to write it at some point.
And years ago, somewhere in the middle of reading way too many essays by really smart writers, I discovered the em dash.
If you’re not familiar with it, it’s this little beauty:
—
It’s longer than a hyphen. It isn’t an en dash. It isn’t a minus sign. It’s the punctuation equivalent of taking a breath before adding one more thought.
I loved it immediately.
Journalism school teaches you to write tight. Short. Efficient. Every sentence buttoned up like you’re reporting from the White House press room.
The em dash let me loosen the top button. Okay, maybe two.
It let me add another thought. Another description. A little rabbit trail before coming back to the point.
It felt like writing sounded when people actually think.
Writers love that sort of thing.
We’re wordy by nature.
Give us permission to add one more sentence and we’ll add three.
Then AI showed up.
And somehow…the em dash became an AI tell.
I’m sorry…
What?
The funny part is AI didn’t invent the em dash.
Writers did.
Editors did.
English teachers did.
Grammar nerds did.
AI simply learned from people who had been using it for decades.
That’s like accusing your kid of inventing one of your momisms because they’ve repeated it enough times.
The student became the teacher.
Or maybe the plagiarism machine became the grammar police.
A few weeks ago I was getting feedback on the back cover copy for my new book coming out this fall.
One comment said:
“I would kill all them em dashes in the description copy that read as Ai to lots of people now even if they were not :)”
I stared at that sentence for a solid minute.
Read it again.
Someone was criticizing my punctuation…while using the phrase “all them em dashes.”
The irony nearly sprained my neck.
We’re officially living in a world where incorrect grammar is lecturing correct punctuation.
You can’t make this stuff up.
Well…AI probably could.
Here’s what’s fascinating to me.
For years, polished writing was a sign that someone knew what they were doing.
Good punctuation.
Strong sentence structure.
A varied rhythm.
Thoughtful transitions.
Those were signs of experience.
Now?
Apparently, they’re signs you’re a robot.
Meanwhile, what screams “authentic human”?
Typos.
Run-on sentences.
Misspelled words.
Random capitalization.
A complete disregard for commas.
Congratulations.
We’ve reached the point where proofreading makes you suspicious.
The whole thing says more about us than it does about AI.
We’ve become so conditioned to look for “AI tells” that we’re accidentally labeling decades of good writing as fake.
That’s a weird place to land.
Will I still use em dashes?
Absolutely.
Maybe not quite as many.
Not because they’re wrong.
Not because they’ve suddenly become bad writing.
But because perception matters, and readers bring baggage to every sentence now.
Still, I refuse to let artificial intelligence steal perfectly good punctuation.
The em dash belonged to writers long before Claude showed up.
AI didn’t ruin the em dash.
It just made everyone notice it.
Although…
Maybe I’ll leave a typo in here.
Apparently, that’s how we prove we’re human these days 🙂
Pre-order my new book, The Family Secret now on Amazon!
