I believe the whole issue of AI-generated text has been approached in the wrong way. Instead of trying to catch and punish AI-generated content, Medium (and every other platform, for that matter) should leave it up to readers to decide whether a specific article is valuable. If someone creates an article using AI and readers appreciate it for whatever reason, that article should not be punished or demoted. If readers find value in the article, it’s good. Period. Conversely, if readers dislike the article, whether it was created with AI or not, then it’s simply a bad article and won't go far.

Currently, algorithms are tasked with identifying AI-generated articles. If an article turns out to have been created with AI, both the article and its author are punished, regardless of whether readers enjoyed it. This approach ignores the importance of audience opinion. Readers should be the ones deciding whether an article provides value, not an algorithm.

I believe readers will naturally favor authentic articles created purely by humans over those created using AI. However, this doesn’t mean an AI-assisted article can’t be good or valuable. Writers should have the freedom to decide whether they want to use AI or not, and readers should be the ultimate judges of whether an article is worth their time. If an article meets readers’ standards, the author should be compensated, whether or not AI was used in its creation.

AI is simply a tool that helps authors convey their ideas. That’s all. It’s time to stop demonizing AI. Let readers decide if an article is good. If the article garners attention and isn’t deceptive or misleading, the author deserves payment, regardless of whether AI was involved. After all, humans are more prone to scamming people than AI.

Let those who create content with AI have their audience, and let those who prefer to work without AI have theirs. Readers will ultimately decide whether they like the final result. Punishing AI-generated content is a dead-end approach. I’ve written articles entirely on my own without any AI assistance, yet AI detection tools incorrectly flagged them as being “60% or more” AI-generated.

Let readers read what they enjoy and decide for themselves whether an article is good or not.