Last week, Substack launched its AI detection feature in partnership with Pangram — the shift the company previewed in co-founder Chris Best’s post, “Against Claudefishing.” The tool lets anyone scan a post, Note, reply, or comment of 100+ words for an estimate of how much was written by hand versus with AI help.
I plan to disable Pangram on every Substack essay I publish. "Pangram" is what happens when you use all seven letters in a word on the New York Times Spelling Bee. Apparently Substack stole it.
Stella, I'm taking it article by article. Interesting about the origin of the word Pangram. I did not know that. It was not Substack that stole it. Pangram is a different company. Either way, it will be happening on all platforms. One way you can avoid it altogether is by using a custom domain on Substack. It also does not work on posts under 100 characters or video, audio, or livestreaming posts. But that may change too. Thanks for commenting. I am genuinely curious to know how this will impact how people create content and engage.
Stella - when you create a Substack publication, the default setting for a URL is a URL with Substack in the name. You can also set-up a custom domain and use a URL that you purchase with your name or the name of your company, book, or program. You can find it in the settings. As of now, that is one workaround to bypass the AI detector; it only works on Substack domains/URLs, not custom.
Wow! Thank you for sharing this info Donna. I truly appreciate you running your own test and share your examples of how you create content.
As a writer it's hard enough to come up with good content, it's devastating when you're accused of it being 100%. Those of us who were taught proper writing skills learned the exact writing styles used to train AI. I'm told that that makes it almost unrecognizable as 100% human.
@Laura Templeton new game, new rules. This is not a Substack thing, it will be on all platforms in one form or another. Look in your email inbox and notice how many changes to terms of services emails are popping up. My plan is to be informed, as compliant as I can be, and listen to my gut. I’m not changing how I have written for years or my use of AI which I use for research, curation of my own content, and treat as a partnership, not a hand-off.
I plan to disable Pangram on every Substack essay I publish. "Pangram" is what happens when you use all seven letters in a word on the New York Times Spelling Bee. Apparently Substack stole it.
Stella, I'm taking it article by article. Interesting about the origin of the word Pangram. I did not know that. It was not Substack that stole it. Pangram is a different company. Either way, it will be happening on all platforms. One way you can avoid it altogether is by using a custom domain on Substack. It also does not work on posts under 100 characters or video, audio, or livestreaming posts. But that may change too. Thanks for commenting. I am genuinely curious to know how this will impact how people create content and engage.
Donna, if you have a chance, please let me know what you mean by a custom domain on Substack. I am a bionerd but not a tech nerd…
Stella - when you create a Substack publication, the default setting for a URL is a URL with Substack in the name. You can also set-up a custom domain and use a URL that you purchase with your name or the name of your company, book, or program. You can find it in the settings. As of now, that is one workaround to bypass the AI detector; it only works on Substack domains/URLs, not custom.
Wow! Thank you for sharing this info Donna. I truly appreciate you running your own test and share your examples of how you create content.
As a writer it's hard enough to come up with good content, it's devastating when you're accused of it being 100%. Those of us who were taught proper writing skills learned the exact writing styles used to train AI. I'm told that that makes it almost unrecognizable as 100% human.
@Laura Templeton new game, new rules. This is not a Substack thing, it will be on all platforms in one form or another. Look in your email inbox and notice how many changes to terms of services emails are popping up. My plan is to be informed, as compliant as I can be, and listen to my gut. I’m not changing how I have written for years or my use of AI which I use for research, curation of my own content, and treat as a partnership, not a hand-off.