While the much-maligned em dash has become associated with AI-generated content, it actually has a long history of use in U.S. journalism and academic writing (which is where AI learned it). So, the next time you wonder whether something you’re reading is AI-generated, stop and ask yourself this—am I reading something from a source I’ve long respected as an authority and whose expertise I have never questioned, but now am simply because I’ve noticed em dashes in the writing? The problem in that scenario is not the writer. Here’s your linguistics lesson explaining why.