AI Policy for Pubstack Success
As the creator of Pubstack Success, I am dedicated to providing practical, actionable, and original insights for online writers.
With AI tools now part of the modern writing landscape, I want to be transparent with how I use them, what you can expect as a subscriber, and the standards I hold myself to.
That’s what this policy is for*.
How I use AI tools in Pubstack Success
I use AI tools to assist with research, brainstorming, outlining, spellchecking, punctuation and grammar advice** and proofreading.
I use AI-generated images in Pubstack Success, and I publish images that combine original and AI-generated elements.
I do not publish chunks of AI-written text in Pubstack Success, not because I don’t value what AI-writing tools can do, but because I know my readers are here for the originality of my work and for personal insights that are unique to my human experience.
My goal is to provide no-bull, actionable guidance rooted in my own experience and research. AI-generated posts do not contribute to this goal.
How AI tools and other creators use my content
I have published a huge opus of content about Substack on both the substack.com domain and the medium.com domains and I allow internet bots to access the content.
As a result, a significant proportion of content generated by AI tools on this subject is based on words written by me.
If you are a diligent student of Substack, you will see many posts, courses, emails and books that look eerily similar to content I have created. Unfortunately, some of these posts and books contain inaccuracies that are present due to the way AI language models generate text.
I’m disappointed that my unique ideas are being used in content that is sometimes misleading and occasionally dangerously wrong. And I’m sad that people who don’t understand the intricacies of Substack, as I do, are profiting from my hard work without fact-checking the content generated by the AI tools they use, and putting their readers at risk of incorrect information.
However, I acknowledge that some people consider it’s okay to republish my work as if it’s their own because it’s been processed by a large language model. Whatevs.
Anyway, if you’re here, you’ve found the og source, well done, you.
Thank you for trusting me as your guide on Substack. See you on the inside.
Last updated: 26 June, 2025
*Dangling preposition. Yup I went there.
**Grammar advice which I often ignore 😁