Substack has released a new feature that can show you which of your favorite newsletters are written using artificial intelligence.
This week, the newsletter and writing platform was announced an integration with AI handwriting detection software; Pangram which will allow users to scan posts, comments and replies in Substack’s app to see an estimate of how much of the content was written by a human and how much by AI.
In the short term, the move could be bad for Substack’s business, as it could expose many of the newsletters on its platform as not entirely written by humans. This could potentially erode trust in the platform’s ecosystem of independent news and blogs, or even damage its reputation as a host of high-quality content.
But in the long run, AI detection capabilities could help keep Substack free of “artificial intelligence scams” and encourage more users to trust that what they’re reading is written by a human, or at least better understand when it’s not.
Substack joins many platforms that are leaning towards labeling AI content as such, especially now that AI is playing a bigger role in the creation process. AI-generated photos and videos are flagged on social networking sites, while music streaming services have more recently started flagging and, in some cases, penalizing AI-generated music.
“This is a good use of artificial intelligence,” said Substack CEO Chris Best.
“When I was pitching Substack to writers, one way I would do it is… we’ll do everything for you except the hard part,” he explained in a online chat with Pangram founder Max Spero. “You have to have something — an idea worth reading, worth caring about, worth sharing. This one thing is very difficult and very precious… [S]The oftware should do everything else, but I think you want the person to do the hard part.’
The feature will be available in the Substack app for any post, note, reply or comment over 100 characters. Substack will also allow its authors to include an optional AI creator note, using which creators can properly disclose their use of AI, the company told TechCrunch.
The company clarified that the tool is not meant to ban or penalize AI-assisted writing, but rather to encourage writers to add a “how I do this” statement where they explain their process.
Publishers can also run Pangram on their own drafts before publication and report and remove scans of their own work that they believe are errors.
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