Em dash usage is not definitive proof of AI generation

The frequent use of the em dash (—) has led some social media users to believe it is an infallible indicator of text generated by artificial intelligence, such as ChatGPT. However, typographical experts clarify that this confuses writing habits with proof of origin.

In French typography, the em dash serves several established functions, including marking dialogue, framing incises, or highlighting ideas. While AI models do frequently use the mark to introduce explanations or provide sentence rhythm, it is a long-standing convention used by human authors.

A Pew Research Center analysis from August 2026, which examined 490,000 web texts, found that the frequency of em dash usage has approximately doubled since 2023. While researchers noted more frequent use by AI models, they emphasized that the presence of the punctuation mark alone cannot be used to conclude a text was machine-generated, distinguishing between a statistical trend and individual proof.