Medium is for human storytelling, not AI generated writing.
We have specific policies around the different uses of AI-generated content and technologies.
AI-generated writing:
We define AI-generated writing as writing where the majority of the content has been created by an AI-writing program with little or no edits, improvements, fact-checking, or changes. This does not include AI writing tools such as AI outlining, or AI assisted fact, spelling, or grammar checkers.
- AI-generated writing (disclosed as such or not) is not allowed to be paywalled as part of our Partner Program. Accounts that have fully-generated AI writing behind the paywall may have those stories removed from the paywall, and/or have their Partner Program enrollment revoked.
- AI-generated writing that is disclosed as such and is not behind the paywall is eligible for General Distribution, but it is not eligible for Boost distribution.
- Undisclosed AI-generated writing will be given Network Only distribution. This means it is distributed to the author’s direct network of followers and subscribers only. It is not eligible for wider distribution.
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, for example, or help them express themselves in a second language. However, in practice, AI-assist is often a way to insert small snippets of AI-generated content that often suffers from the same problems as fully AI- generated stories.
We require that any story incorporating AI assistance be
- Clearly labeled as such. AI-assisted text without a disclosure at the beginning of the story (within the first two paragraphs) will similarly be restricted to distribution on the author’s personal network.
AI-generated or assisted images:
AI-generated or assisted images are allowed on Medium with the following provisions:
- AI-generated images must include captioning identifying them as such.
- We do not allow AI-generated images that violate our Medium rules, such as rules around harassment, exploitation of minors, disinformation, or privacy violations (such as AI-generated revenge porn, misinformation, generation of non-consensual or explicit images, etc.)
Other uses of AI-generated content or technologies:
Violations of these policies may result in consequences such as account restrictions or suspension of your content:
- We do not allow AI-generated content created solely for the purpose of ranking high in SEO results with the goal of promoting affiliate links (such as AI-generated book summaries, product reviews, or movie synopsis, or other spammy behaviors)
- We do not allow content that promotes, links to, or provides instructions for creating new or existing AI technologies for illegal or unethical purposes (such as illegal hacking, generation of non-consensual or explicit images, exploitation of AI characters, etc)
- We do not allow the use of AI tools to rephrase, summarize, remix, or otherwise modify existing content in a manner that results in a derivative work which closely resembles the original content in concept, structure, or essential elements. This is a violation of our Plagiarism Guidelines.
- We do not allow articles that contain easily disprovable AI-hallucinated stories, statistics, events, or otherwise incorrect or nonfactual information.
FAQ:
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Do I need to disclose the use of AI-assistance such as grammar or spell checkers, outline assistance, or fact verification?
- No, you do not need to disclose this use. You must disclose if you are using text or images generated by AI
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What should I do if I suspect AI-generated content on the platform?
- If you see recommended AI-generated content in your feed or Daily Digest from an author or publication you don’t follow, use the “Show less” tool in the 3-dot menu to remove the story and retrain the algorithm. You do not need to report it to us.
- If you see AI-content behind the paywall, please submit a request with a link to the story using this form.
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How should I disclose AI-generated content?
- If you have used AI-generated written content in your story, you can just include a simple sentence within the first two paragraphs. For example, “This story was written with the assistance of an AI writing program.”
- For AI-generated images, you can note that in the image caption. For example, “This image was created using an AI image creation program.”
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How does Medium detect AI content?
- We use a wide variety of tools and technologies to detect and identify AI-writing and other AI content, combined with human review of any positive results.
- For more on Medium’s quality and distribution standards, see Medium's Quality Guidelines.
- To learn how distribution works on Medium, see What happens to your post when you publish on Medium.
- Read the Medium Rules here.