Medium’s NEW Rules for AI-Generated Writing - Good or Bad?
Is your writing in trouble? The FAQ and video can help!
There’s a lot of excitement about writing with AI on Medium.
However, AI writing is a major issue.
Now the publishing platform Medium wants to strike a balance between innovation and risk.
Human writers need protection against AI “writing”.
The platform announced some huge changes to their Medium Partner Program that will change the game for writers.
I received an email from Medium in which they talk about their…
new AI policy
what is allowed and what isn’t
who it affects
what writers have to do
These new changes I’ll break down for you are effective May of this year and are part of a larger vision.
Medium is for human storytelling, not AI generated writing.
Scott Lamb, VP of Content shared:
Readers tell us constantly that they want stories written by people about their experience and insights.
We are a home for human writing full stop.
So, with the new policy, Medium’s goal is to reduce AI generated writing by changing the way they promote and “advertise” stories and pay writers.
The change that Medium is making is that from May 1st, 2024, stories with AI generated text, whether labeled as such or not, may no longer be listed behind the paywall as part of the Medium Partner Program (MPP).
This means…
you are not allowed to try to make money with AI generated writing anymore.
accounts that have fully AI generated writing may have their stories removed from the paywall and or be revoked from the partner program.
I hear you say…
What is considered AI generated writing?
So AI generated writing is writing where the majority of the content has been created by an AI writing program.
This means you should be concerned if you use AI to create your content
with little or no edits
fact checking or
improvements.
What is AI assistive technology?
We allow the responsible use of AI assistive technology on Medium.
AI-assistance empowers an author to level up to make their ideas clearer.
In my opinion, it is still fine to use AI tools to assist with writing.
For example, since I’m a non native, I use Grammarly to check for any mistakes and it is fine to continue using it.
We don’t need to disclose this use.
Other questions I received within the last past weeks are:
Can I continue sharing AI generated writing?
What about AI generated and assisted featured images?
Is my writing in trouble?
What isn’t allowed?
How does Medium detect AI content?
What about non natives using AI?
What does others say about the new AI policy?
What’s your opinion?
Good news!
I’ll answer all your questions in today’s YouTube video:
New Video: Medium’s NEW Rules for AI-Generated Writing 🚨
✅Table of Contents:✅
0:00 Excitement about AI content and risk on Medium
0:51 Medium is for human storytelling not AI generated content
1:58 What is considered AI generated writing on Medium?
2:19 What is considered AI-assisted technology on Medium?
2:46 Can I continue sharing AI-generated content on Medium?
4:45 What about AI-generated featured images on Medium?
5:35 What isn't allowed on Medium?
6:04 The future of AI on Medium - What Medium writers need to do now to stay save and stay active in the Medium Partner Program (MPP)
9:02 What writers think about the new policy and my opinion
My opinion and concerns about the AI policy
Not only are the recognition tools inadequate, but it is hard to imagine that they could ever be otherwise, since the goal of AI is to make its results indistinguishable from those of humans.
It's scary to think that authentic authors are threatened with being kicked out of the Medium Partner Program.
I think it's right to be concerned about our work being falsely “labeled”, but we have to accept that this is the “new normal”.
We need to be prepared to stay calm and defend ourselves when it happens.
Nevertheless, in my humble opinion, I don’t see how Medium can control everything.
In February 2024 there were..
2.4 million stories published
on average that’s 80k posts per day.
However, I think they should at least be able to remove the obvious ones.
In addition, Medium has already done very important work to combat AI by using human curators in the Boost program.
The process for recognizing AI is being continuously refined.
Hopefully Medium’s new AI policy can help clean the air.
Only time can tell.
How do you feel about the new AI policy?
🎉Let me know via YouTube and win a 1:1 call with me in May! 🥳
As inspiration, here’s what I heard:
A — I like it. It’s the right action to take.
B — Who determines what is/what isn’t AI? Will writers receive any notifications, or will their stories just be picked off in the dead of night. If a story is flagged, what recourse will readers have? Who will they address? What role will editors play here?
C — It’s troubling though that my post could be considered AI when it’s not. I mostly write opinions and personal essays. I wonder if my opinion piece is in trouble.
D — If people would just play nice . . . !
E — The unintended consequences could be a problem for all of us…
F — It’s frightening to think that authentic writers face being kicked out of the program. Through friends at Medium, I have seen in real time what consequences unjustified accusations can have.
Freelance writer Elna Cain shared:
One more thing!
You can now join Kristina’s Medium School for more:
Here’s what you’ll get inside the “Medium School”:
Video tutorials about writing on Medium and building an audience
Video tutorials on getting Boosted and earning money
Top 10 Medium publications
How to Get Published in a Top 10 Publication
Live sessions with Medium Top writers or Boost nommer
… many more
If you become a paid member, you get access to my Online Writing School which I host on a community-focused platform.
Inside the Online Writing School we talk about how to make money with your words by writing online, building a personal brand and audience of raving fans online.
If you say:
Kristina, I’d love to get in at the early stage and shape the online course and community with my questions and suggestions…
…then join us inside!
You’ll get an invite link from me to join the community and courses.
You’ll also get access to the “Substack School”!
All humans, thank you so much for reading and watching!
I'm excited about this new policy. I think most people don't realize how much of the "content" they consume is artifical, and really nothing more than propaganda. There's been a lot of talk about how "divided" the US has become, but if you go and talk to people face to face it's a lot easier to find common ground than it is on the internet. The internet is toxic because I feel a lot of AI has been programmed to normalize hate speech. What Medium is doing is a step in the right direction. What you're saying is true: they likely can't really detect all of it. However, their mission statement sets the foundation for removing writers who don't conform to the standards of the platform. Human beings shouldn't be worried.
Any AI help with writing is not real writing. If it takes awy from the basic thinking and creating writing requires, then it's not original thought. If people don't do something now, this will gradually get worse. https://open.substack.com/pub/fightartificialintelligence/p/th-fragile-audacity-of-artificial?r=7an9e&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web