It’s not about punctutation, but a larger cultural problem.
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If you’ve spent time online lately, you might have heard about the “ChatGPT hyphen” “—” or more accurately, the telltale em dash. It’s become a running joke: if a text overuses em dashes, it probably wasn’t written by a human. But behind the meme lies a deeper story about language, culture, and the limits of AI-generated content.
We’ve all started to notice them. The em dash. As well as words and phrases like “delightful,” “at the intersection of…,” among others. These are the quiet signals that reveal a text may have been written by a machine. This blog post looks at one of the most curious of them all: the em dash, and what it shows us about the way AI absorbs and mirrors dominant patterns in language use.
How AI picked up the em dash habit
ChatGPT is trained on massive amounts of online text. That includes news sites, blogs, Reddit threads, and corporate websites, with a large share in American English. In that style of writing, the em dash tends to show up a lot.
It’s used to break up sentences, insert extra thoughts, or create dramatic pauses. You’ll find it often in journalistic writing and casual corporate tone-of-voice guides. For ChatGPT, it’s a strong signal: what follows the dash is often punchy, important, or emotional.
So the model learns that the em dash is a good bet when it wants to sound intelligent or impactful. But that’s not how most humans write. Most keyboards don’t even include an em dash by default. You need to know the shortcut, which many people don’t: Shift + Option + Hyphen on Mac, or Alt + 0151 on Windows. It’s not part of most people’s natural typing flow.
And in many cultures and languages, it simply doesn’t belong at all.
My perspective: growing up without dashes
I grew up in Germany, and in all my years of writing, from school essays to academic work to brand strategy, I never used em or en dashes. We used hyphens, commas, and full stops. Punctuation had clear rules and was never meant to be dramatic.
That changed when I started working internationally, especially with US-based teams or coworkers. Suddenly, the tone was more expressive, and more conversational. And yes, the em dash showed up a lot – without a space before or after, which took me a while to get used to.
Even then, it never felt natural. Because for most humans, writing isn’t just about how something sounds – it’s also about how it feels to produce. And the em dash isn’t exactly user-friendly.
What punctuation reveals about culture
Punctuation isn’t just about grammar, it’s cultural. How we use it reflects how we think, communicate, and relate to others.
Here are a few examples:
- German writing tends to be structured and rule-bound, with a strong emphasis on clarity and grammatical precision. Em dashes are rarely used. For example, an ad might say: “Jetzt anmelden und 20 % sparen.” – short, clear, and no unnecessary drama.
- British English favours restraint. You’ll see colons or semicolons more than em dashes, and a more formal sentence rhythm. For example, an article might read: “The results were conclusive: the method works.”
- French writing places a space before exclamation marks, colons, and question marks, a detail that’s often missed in translations. For example, you’ll see “Bonjour !” instead of “Bonjour!”, a small but important cue that can disappear in automated translations.
- Italian tone tends to favour commas and ellipses to express rhythm and emotion, often less structured but rich in flow. For example, you might see “E poi… è successo davvero.” in storytelling or ads.
- Traditional Chinese and Simplified Chinese use a full-width punctuation system that includes Chinese-style quotation marks, periods (。), and commas (，). For example:「立即註冊，開啟專屬優惠！」
This all matters because when AI produces text, it doesn’t truly understand the audience. It copies what it has seen the most, and in doing so, flattens the cultural nuances that punctuation can carry.
The bigger picture: why it’s not just about dashes
The discussion around em dashes is more than a style preference. It’s a glimpse into something much larger: how AI writing reflects the norms and values of the content it was trained on.
When everyone begins to sound the same, when we lose the regional, cultural, and emotional cues that shape language. We also risk losing the brand differentiation that comes from real human voice.
That’s why this article is part of a mini-series on what I call “AI tells” with subtle signs that content hasn’t been shaped with cultural context or human intention. It includes the way dashes are used, which phrases show up, the rhythm and structure of the writing. All of it plays a role.
Why it matters for branding and marketing
If you’re using AI tools to write content for global audiences, be aware: the punctuation might give you away. (And even if you write them by yourself with AI’s help, people might get suspicious and label your content as machine-written.)
A sea of em dashes might not be grammatically wrong, but it may not feel right, especially to audiences who prefer a more formal, minimal, or differently paced style.
Punctuation, tone, and pacing all shape how your brand comes across. They signal whether a message feels authentic or artificial, local or generic. These small details influence how your audience connects with your message.
If you want your brand to feel trustworthy, local, or emotionally intelligent, these details matter.
So what can you do?
- Recognise that language isn’t neutral. It carries cultural tone, pacing, and intention.
- Train your teams (and prompt your AI tools) with a sense of cultural nuance.
- Review punctuation and phrasing with a local lens – not just for grammar, but for emotional and cultural fit.
- Use AI as a draft partner, but let humans do the final shaping.
Final thought
AI isn’t the problem, and neither are em dashes. But if you’re not paying attention, your content may start to sound like it wasn’t written by a person at all.
This is where human marketers and brand strategists still have an edge. We don’t just know what sounds good. We know what feels right – in context, for each audience.
And sometimes, that’s as simple as choosing the right kind of dash.
Sources and further reads
The Verge – “ChatGPT Can’t Stop Using Em Dashes”
https://www.theverge.com/2024/6/18/chatgpt-writing-style-em-dash
One of the first mainstream articles to coin the term “ChatGPT hyphen” and highlight how em dash overuse became a telltale AI writing trait.
Wikipedia – Em Dash
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dash
Detailed explanation of em dashes, en dashes, and hyphens, including usage conventions across different languages and cultures.
Harvard Style Manual – Punctuation Guidelines
https://styleguide.harvard.edu/punctuation
Offers insights into punctuation preferences in academic and formal writing, including the appropriate (limited) use of em dashes.
Verena Kunz-Gehrmann – AI in Branding: What Humans Still Bring to the Table
https://kunzgehrmann.com/2025/06/30/ai-in-branding-human-value/
A reflection on the growing role of AI in branding and marketing, and where human expertise, emotional resonance, cultural awareness, and strategic insight—remains irreplaceable.
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