NOTE: This post was written entirely by a human author—yours truly.

Here we stand at the dawn of a new age of AI, machine learning, & whatnot, wringing our collective hands over a controversy so full of—

Yep, you guessed it. Full of dire warnings about the use of the measly em dash in everyday writing. Any sane person might ask, “What the hell are you talking about?”

I’ll leave the exploration of the em dash’s jaded history, the role it played in the downfall of various civilizations, & its alleged superpowers to those competent enough to untangle such complexities.

Instead, I’ll try to personalize this issue by confessing to being in league with those writers who freely sprinkle em dashes as if tossing candy to costumed onlookers during a Halloween parade. I’ve even been known to use an occasional en dash when it comes to recording game scores, court decisions, & such, as in a 5–4 vote (yes, dear reader, there really is an en dash).

Anyway, back to the focus of this post—the ultimate utility player in the lively game of punctuation.

As you can imagine, it’s all too easy for me to overuse the em dash, especially since it pinch-hits at crucial moments like dialogue interruptions and—

But I digress yet again.

The core issue boils down to the troubling reports emerging that some influential individuals are both stirring up suspicions that the em dash might be an indicator of AI-generated writing & actively discouraging other humans from embracing its power & glory.

I haven’t looked into the rationale of such a viewpoint for one essential reason—it’s hogwash, to put it mildly, since using an em dash is a stylistic choice, plain & simple. Besides, where did the fuel for that conflagration likely come from? You don’t suppose GenAI could’ve gleaned the benefits of the em dash after its steady diet of millions of pirated books lifted by unscrupulous individuals, now do you?

I move we all agree to stop singling out such poor, lowly creatures in our feeble attempts to deal with what’s turning into a plague on both our creative writing & artwork houses.

I encourage anybody spending their time & energy coming up with such silly assertions to submit them to the Onion instead, then turn their indignation into action by developing an algorithm that seeks out & shines a spotlight on AI in all its insidious forms while sparing any practical benefits to medical care & such.

With that, I’ll take a deep breath & yield the soapbox—till next time.

Drew

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Please consider checking out Lee Hall’s excellent video review, especially the first book he includes on his short list of memorable indie reads—uh-huh, that would be Pearl Fields and the Oregon Meltdown.