Pangram Has Emerged as the Gold Standard of AI Detection. Should You Trust It?
Meet the AI police who can make or break careers—in publishing and beyond.
Pangram has become the leading AI detection tool in the industry. It estimates the percentage of AI involvement in any given text, using AI itself. In January, a self-published novel, "Shy Girl," was rumored to have AI assistance, but author Mia Ballard denied it. Pangram's CEO claimed the book was 78% AI-generated, leading to Hachette canceling its release. Similar accusations followed, with The New York Times being criticized for running an AI-generated story. Pangram scored the piece at 100%.
In July, Substack integrated Pangram, allowing readers to check for AI use. Not all writers welcome this, as some believe such software is just as bad as the AI companies themselves. Pangram's CEO, Spero, grew up in Los Angeles and worked at Google and Nuro before founding Pangram in 2023. The company uses "synthetic mirroring" and "hard negative mining" to detect AI-generated content. While Pangram has seen success, especially in creative writing, its impact on book deals remains unclear.
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