Revealed: The telltale sign showing when someone has used Chat GPT

Daily Mail​

23-07-2025

Job seekers around the globe might sneakily employ the help of ChatGPT or other AI platforms when writing their applications.
However, Reddit users have pointed out that there might be a telltale sign that gives away when a person has used the platform.
Writing on a forum, an anonymous US-based user asked other social media users about whether they think the em dash is a giveaway.
The em dash isn't typically used by the public daily, but ChatGPT implements the dash on a regular basis.
As a result, some have warned against using the em dash so as not to be accused of using AI.
Taking to a forum, the anonymous US-based Reddit user questioned, 'Em Dashes -The Biggest ChatGPT Giveaway? '
He explained, 'As an advertiser, I love em dashes (—) for emphasis, but let's be real -nobody uses them in emails or comments.
'They're uncommon, and keyboards don't even have a key for them. Is this the ultimate ChatGPT tell?'
Users took to the comment section to share whether they believe the em dash is a sign someone has used ChatGPT.
One wrote, 'I used to use them more until this view got so popularised that I just stopped using them so as not get falsely accused.'
Another added, 'I definitely see more of them since the new ChatGPT release for sure. Then when you look at the overall text as context with the em dashes, you know where it came from. '
A third wrote, 'I just tested this. I asked them to write three emails. Everyone contained an em dash.'
A fourth added, 'Yeah whenever I use something Chat GPT wrote I always replace those with commas.'
However, others thought differently, with one saying, 'I use them all the time, to the point where sometimes I'll go back and replace some with commas because I feel like I've overdone it. This isn't a tell.'
Another wrote, 'I'm an academic. I use em dashes for clearer writing (academic writing is notoriously obtuse). If that's evidence of ChatGPT use, then that's very bad for me.'
It comes after a report found that the number of new entry-level jobs has fallen by nearly a third since ChatGPT was launched in November 2022.
Openings for apprenticeships, graduate roles, internships and junior roles with no requirement for a degree fell by 31.9 per cent, according to The Times.
Research by jobs search website Adzuna found that entry-level vacancies only make up a quarter of the overall jobs market, which is down by nearly four per cent since 2022.
It comes as more companies are outlining their plans to use AI to reduce their headcount.
BT said in May 2023 that 10,000 jobs would be replaced by artificial intelligence by the end of the decade. The roles impacted include call handling and network diagnostics.
Its chief executive Allison Kirkby has claimed that advances in AI could result in even more job cuts at the company.
Dario Amodei, head of $61billion AI start-up Anthropic, warned that the technology could cut half of all entry-level white-collar jobs within five years.
The CEO said the change could increase unemployment by between up to 20 per cent.
James Neave, the head of data science at Adzuna, said AI was a major factor in the reduction of entry-level jobs.
'If you can reduce your hiring at the entry level, that's just going to increase your efficiency and improve cost savings,' he said.
Businesses are facing increasing costs including rises in national insurance contributions and the national minimum wage. The number of entry-level roles fell again by 4.2 per cent in May.
Experts predict a 50-50 chance machines could take over all our jobs within a century.
But a poll of 16,000 workers last year found many employees believe AI could do it already.
Nearly half admitted the technology can outperform them in 'routine tasks' – while also paying better attention to detail.
The 'jobs apocalypse' is expected to see admin and entry-level roles first – but will increasingly affect those higher paid as it becomes more sophisticated.
The Future of Work Report by jobs website Indeed found just one in three respondents were confident AI would have a positive impact on their role.
The majority however – nine in ten – felt confident they would be able to adapt to the changes over the next five years.
Workers told how much of their day-to-day responsibilities were already ripe for automation – with three in five saying that AI can carry out data analysis better than humans.
Routine tasks (48%) and attention to detail (45%) were other tasks where workers felt AI had the upper hand.
While repetitive jobs are well-suited to AI, workers said they still felt confident they were better in critical thinking, creativity and emotional intelligence.
Asked which jobs are most likely to be untouched by AI in a decade's time, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Chief Economist, Barret Kupelian said people should look to traditional trades - with roles plumbers, electricians and decorators
He explained: 'It appears to me that jobs that require a quite a lot of manual labour...I don't think the technology is skilled there, in terms of augmenting those skills.'
The PwC spokesman said that roles that require 'a high degree of judgement and creativity' are also unlikely to be able to be automated any time soon because they require 'bespoke skills that are quite difficult to replicate on a digital basis.'