OpenAI Fixes ChatGPT's Em-Dash Problem, Raising Questions About AI Control
10 Sources
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Forget AGI -- Sam Altman celebrates ChatGPT finally following em-dash formatting rules
Em-dashes have become what many believe to be a telltale sign of AI-generated text over the past few years. The punctuation mark appears frequently in outputs from ChatGPT and other AI chatbots, sometimes to the point where readers believe they can identify AI writing by its overuse alone --
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OpenAI says it's fixed ChatGPT's em dash problem | TechCrunch
OpenAI says ChatGPT will now ditch the em dashes if you tell it to. The telltale sign that supposedly signals text written by AI has popped up everywhere in recent months, including in school papers, emails, comments, customer service chats, LinkedIn posts, online forums, ad copy, and more. The
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You Can Now Stop ChatGPT's Em-Dash Fixation: Here's How
Don't miss out on our latest stories. Add PCMag as a preferred source on Google. If you've been sneakily trying to use AI for writing, or have been in a position where you had to check for it, you'll know that the em-dash is one of the most famous signs of ChatGPT-generated writing. Research from
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OpenAI says ChatGPT will listen if you tell it not to use em dashes
You may now have to scrutinize what you read on the internet (and event on print) more closely to determine if it's the product of AI. Sam Altman has revealed on X that if you tell ChatGPT not to use em dashes in your custom instructions, the chatbot will now finally listen to you. Previously,
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ChatGPT Achieves a New Level of Intelligence: Not Using the Em Dash
OpenAI has not achieved its goal of developing a superintelligence or artificial general intelligence, nor has it cracked its planned construction of an autonomous "AI researcher." But it has figured out how to get ChatGPT to stop misusing the em dash. So, that's something. In a post on X, CEO Sam
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OpenAI has fixed ChatGPT's infamous 'em dash' obsession (somewhat)
The "em dash" is seen by some as a dead giveaway of AI-generated text, mainly because ChatGPT loves to use it. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman shared in a social media post that the company has now fixed ChatGPT's overuse of the "em dash," which is the extra-long hyphen that's commonly seen in AI-generated
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ChatGPT Will Stop Using Em Dashes If Instructed So | AIM
Sam Altman, OpenAI's CEO, stated on X that ChatGPT will refrain from using em dashes when a user specifies this preference in their Custom Instructions. "It finally does what it's supposed to do," he said. Custom instructions on ChatGPT allow tailoring how the AI responds and can be found in the
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ChatGPT's tiny switch signals a big shift in AI writing
In a subtle yet telling update, OpenAI's ChatGPT now lets users turn off the em-dash by using its custom instructions. That punctuation mark, once a giveaway of AI-generated text, has been quietly de-weaponised. This change reflects a broader move toward a more personalised writing style and
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OpenAI fixes ChatGPT's em dash problem; 'small-but-happy-win' says Sam Altman - The Economic Times
OpenAI has resolved ChatGPT's overuse of em dashes. Users can now instruct the chatbot to avoid them with success. New GPT-5.1 models, Instant and Thinking, are rolling out. ChatGPT also gains new personality settings like Professional and Quirky. These updates aim for smarter, more conversational
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RIP em dashes: ChatGPT just made AI writing harder to spot
A small punctuation fix quietly makes AI writing sound more human If you spend any time online, you know the em dash has seen a resurgence like no other punctuation mark. Sometimes in the middle of the sentence, sometimes in the end, mostly everywhere. For a couple of years now, ChatGPT's love
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OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced that ChatGPT can now follow custom instructions to avoid using em-dashes, a punctuation mark that became a telltale sign of AI-generated text. The fix highlights ongoing challenges in controlling AI behavior and raises questions about the path to artificial general intelligence.
OpenAI Addresses Long-Standing Em-Dash Issue
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced on Thursday that ChatGPT can now successfully follow custom instructions to avoid using em-dashes, calling it a "small-but-happy win"
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. The announcement came two days after the release of OpenAI's new GPT-5.1 AI model and addresses a problem that has plagued the chatbot since its launch three years ago2
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Source: ET
Users can now access this feature through ChatGPT's custom instructions by clicking on their profile icon and selecting Settings or Customize ChatGPT, followed by Custom Instructions
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. However, the fix requires individual user action rather than being a default system-wide change, suggesting that OpenAI still cannot address the underlying cause of the em-dash overuse5
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Source: Gizmodo
The Em-Dash Detection Problem
Em-dashes have become one of the most recognizable indicators of AI-generated text over the past few years. Research from The Washington Post showed that almost half of ChatGPT-generated responses included the punctuation mark at one point this year, representing a fivefold increase compared to 2024
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. This overuse has created significant challenges for human writers who naturally favor em-dashes in their work, as they now face suspicion of using AI assistance1
.The punctuation mark, denoted by a long dash (—), differs from a hyphen and is used to set off parenthetical information, indicate sudden changes in thought, or introduce summaries and explanations
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. Its frequent appearance in AI-generated content has led to the development of detection tools and human readers learning to spot em-dash patterns as indicators of artificial authorship2
.Theories Behind AI's Em-Dash Obsession
While OpenAI has never officially explained why ChatGPT developed such a fondness for em-dashes, several theories have emerged from researchers and industry observers. One prominent theory suggests that the overuse stems from AI models being trained on 19th-century books, where em-dash usage peaked around 1860 before declining through the mid-20th century
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. These older texts are commonly used as training data because they are in the public domain and avoid copyright issues.Another theory points to the widespread use of em-dashes on Medium blogs, which serve as a common source of training data for OpenAI's models
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. Large language models tend to output frequently seen patterns from their training data, combined with reinforcement learning processes that rely on human preferences, creating a "smoothed out" average style that may favor em-dash usage in formal writing contexts1
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Implications for AI Control and Development
The three-year struggle to address such a seemingly simple formatting issue has raised broader questions about OpenAI's understanding and control of its AI systems. Critics have pointed out that if the world's most valuable AI company has difficulty controlling basic punctuation usage, it may indicate that artificial general intelligence (AGI) is further away than industry claims suggest
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.The fact that the solution requires individual user customization rather than a system-wide fix suggests that finding scalable solutions remains challenging for OpenAI
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. Some users in Altman's social media replies have reported that their ChatGPT instances continue to produce em-dashes despite the new instructions, indicating that the fix may not be universally effective5
.Broader Context of AI Detection
The em-dash issue represents just one aspect of the ongoing challenge of detecting AI-generated content. Recent research from universities including Zurich, Amsterdam, Duke, and New York University found that while LLMs can effectively emulate mechanical aspects of writing like sentence length, they still struggle with believable emotional tone, often appearing overly positive in social media posts
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.The development comes as OpenAI has been emphasizing personalization features and instruction-following capabilities in its latest GPT-5.1 model, positioning the em-dash fix as an example of improved user control rather than a fundamental solution to the underlying model behavior
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Source: AIM
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