Why "the em dash theory" gets it wrong

Discussion

Just for S&Gs I decided to test out some of my reviews from years ago (and some material I wrote for my website) on AI detectors...For reference, I am a professional writer and editor with decades of experience. So I took an honest, 100% written by me review (before AI was a thing) and ran it through the program. I laughed because it "detected" it as 100% AI written. Try it yourself if you have some well-written material. Just Google AI detector, you'll find a bunch.

That's why so many people think em dashes are the gospel and truth of detecting AI usage...they are not. But, because of this, I have had to remove them from my own professional writing, as well as my client's manuscripts. Because so many cannot accept that real people can sound smart or concise, or even (ack!) insightful. We can and do. That is HOW AI learned to do it. From real people who are educated and know how to wordsmith.

If you have tried the same, what were your results?

Posted Jan 11, 2026, 8:11 PM UTC

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