Em Dash on Trial: From Flourish to AI Tell

The em dash became an "AI tell." Now what?

The em dash used to signal voice. Now it signals suspicion. On LinkedIn, Reddit, and X, a single dash can get your post labeled as bot-written before anyone reads the second sentence.

Writers are hesitating, not for style, but optics. That's the real problem - sanding down your voice to avoid a false positive.

Why writers love the em dash

The em dash has been doing the job since Shakespeare: interruption, emphasis, an aside, a breather. "To be, or not to be-to sleep, perchance to dream." It mirrors how thought actually unfolds.

It's different from a hyphen (brother-in-law) and the en dash, which links or ranges (London-Paris, 2010-2015). Used well, it adds rhythm and intent.

From flourish to flag

Now, readers spot an em dash and call AI. The nuance gets lost in the rush to judge. Some writers even "pause before typing one," as one leader put it, because they don't want to look synthetic.

Here's the paradox: to prove we're human, we're being nudged to flatten our style. That's not writing - that's risk management.

The sandpaper effect

Scraping off your voice to dodge suspicion is as bad as churning out AI slop. If the em dash is part of how you think on the page, use it - just not as a crutch.

Overuse anywhere (em dashes, semicolons, transition-stuffed sentences) reads heavy. Balance wins.

What actually signals AI

• Clunky vocabulary and mismatched tone.
• Generic claims, no specifics, no skin in the game.
• Weird references or bland listicles that say nothing new.
• Over-templated structure: every paragraph starts with "Furthermore," "Moreover," "In conclusion."
• Long, looping clauses that never land.

Punctuation alone is a terrible detector. It's like judging a dish by the side salad.

Keep your voice and pass the sniff test

• Use the em dash intentionally. One per paragraph is a useful ceiling. If you can replace it with a comma, colon, or parentheses without losing meaning - do it.
• Mix sentence lengths. Short for punch. Long for nuance. Variety reads human.
• Add receipts: dates, names, prices, places, data points, and first-hand moments. Specificity beats suspicion.
• Cut filler transitions ("Moreover," "Thus," "In conclusion"). Use them sparingly and only where they add clarity.
• Read it aloud. If you run out of breath, your reader will too - edit.
• Edit on purpose: one pass for structure, one for verbs, one for punctuation. Make choice visible in the prose.

A quick punctuation playbook (so you can choose on purpose)

• Em dash (-): interruption, emphasis, asides. US style: no spaces around it.
• En dash (-): ranges and connections (2018-2022, London-Paris).
• Hyphen (-): compound words (well-known, long-term).

Want a neutral reference? See the em dash entry at Merriam-Webster.

If you use AI, make it obvious you're the author

• Draft fast with tools, but inject lived experience and edits only you could make.
• Swap generic examples for your own. Name the client, the metric, the outcome.
• Keep a consistent voice file: preferred punctuation, cadence, phrases you actually say.

If you want vetted tools that help with ideation without flattening your voice, here's a curated list for writers: AI tools for copywriting.

Bottom line

The em dash isn't the problem. Lazy writing is. Use the mark when it serves meaning. Prove you're human with specifics, structure, and choices a template can't fake.

Write like you. Edit like a pro. Let the punctuation follow the intent - not the panic.