Key Takeaways
- The M-dash, a versatile punctuation mark, has a rich and flexible literary history.
- Historically, editors frequently removed dashes from prominent literary works.
- The M-dash has recently become associated with AI-generated text, particularly from ChatGPT.
- Concerns exist regarding AI's impact on human writing processes and cognition.
- A new "AM Dash" has been developed as a symbolic, human-authored punctuation mark.
Deep Dive
- Host Roman Mars introduced the episode, prompted by a Reddit user's accusation regarding journalist Brian Vance.
- Brian Vance, founder of Stumptown Savings, faced accusations of using AI due to his "extra long M-dash."
- Vance, who dedicates 40 hours weekly to his newsletter, refuted the claim, asserting human authorship.
- The M-dash, versatile in replacing other punctuation, is now debated due to its association with AI like ChatGPT.
- Punctuation rules were inconsistent until the 11th-12th centuries, when Boncompagno d'Assigni attempted formalization.
- D'Assigni created a forward slash and a horizontal dash, the latter of which did not gain wide adoption.
- The dash's grammatical role remained unclear and flexible for centuries, allowing varied uses.
- Playwrights like Shakespeare utilized the dash to indicate pauses and shifts in thought for dramatic effect.
- Emily Dickinson's poetry extensively used dashes, suggested by Fiona Green to reflect complex human mind workings.
- Her Civil War-era poems frequently used dashes to create voids for reader interpretation, some even within single words.
- It is debated whether Dickinson's unique dash usage was intended for publication, as she never provided explicit reasons.
- A reading of Dickinson's poem 'Publication is the auction of the mind of man' demonstrated how metrical structure can override dash pauses.
- Posthumous publication of Emily Dickinson's poems involved editors removing over 95% of her dashes.
- Jane Austen's works also saw extensive dash removal, with an estimated 6,000 M-dashes edited from 'Pride and Prejudice' alone.
- Excessive dash use has historically faced criticism, as seen in critiques of Jonathan Swift and Lord Byron.
- Even style guides like the Chicago Manual of Style advise caution with dashes, acknowledging other punctuation may offer more clarity.
- The M-dash has become a perceived indicator of AI-generated content, particularly from ChatGPT, leading to its dubbing as the 'ChatGPT hyphen.'
- OpenAI CEO Sam Altman claimed ChatGPT's frequent M-dash use was a response to user preference, a decision he now considers excessive.
- An analysis by Sean Gedecker suggests a shift in OpenAI's training data around July 2024 to digitized print books, possibly leading to increased M-dash use.
- Subtle indicators of AI writing, such as a formal tone or 'beigeness,' still exist, but the M-dash's distinctiveness made it an easy target for criticism.
- While the M-dash's association with AI is an oversimplification, its prevalence in machine-generated text is undeniable.
- Educator Fiona Green highlights that the 'hard parts' of writing, like navigating rabbit holes and misreading, are crucial for learning and personal development.
- The segment questions outsourcing cognitive processes to machines, suggesting it changes how people think and rewires their brains.
- Sam Altman announced in November 2025 that ChatGPT would finally respect custom instructions to avoid using M-dashes.
- Host Roman Mars welcomed back Will Aspinall to discuss the M-dash's association with AI-generated writing.
- This association has led some writers to actively avoid using the punctuation mark.
- Aspinall introduced a 'design-led solution' offering a more positive perspective on the issue of AI and the M-dash.
- The creative agency CocoGun introduced the "AM Dash," a redesigned, AI-proof punctuation mark that visually resembles an M-dash with serifs.
- Ant Melder, co-founder of CocoGun, explained the AM Dash originated from a desire to counter AI-generated writing and preserve human authorship.
- The project, launched in May 2025, has seen thousands of downloads, exceeding initial expectations.
- The AM Dash's success hinges on Unicode acceptance and wider adoption, with a New York Times headline featuring it being a dream goal.