Substack Is Adding An AI Detection Feature
The company has partnered with Pangram for the new tools.
Substack has launched a new AI detection tool in partnership with Pangram. This will allow readers to scan Substack content for an assessment of how much of the material was written by AI. The tool can be used on text longer than 100 words that was published beginning today. Substack is also adding a new statement space for creators to explicitly share if and how they used AI for their content. The AI detection capabilities are available starting today on web and iOS, with Android support to come.
The blog post announcing the feature is surprisingly spicy. There’s a dig at LinkedIn about the presence of AI-generated content on that service and it dubs attempting to create feigned human connection with AI slop “Claudefishing.” Throwing shade is a risky maneuver here, because even the best tools for identifying gen-AI can’t guarantee a correct assessment. The Atlantic dug deeper into just how accurate AI detection tools, Pangram in particular, can be. Spoiler: they’re far from perfect.
Substack did acknowledge in the post that there are limits to what Pangram can detect and hinted at some other features it is considering around AI content and preferences. It emphasized that these new measures are aimed at setting expectations for readers, summing up its stance as “people should know what they’re getting.”
