I had a number of very interesting conversations since I wrote the last newsletter that really got me thinking. I share one of them today. And yes, you can now leave comments on TechStories.co - more on that later.
The shifting edge of plagiarism
Last weekend, someone posted a note on a work-related chat group. It contained screenshots of two surprisingly similar LinkedIn posts with the same photo. The question, of course, was whether the latter post plagiarised the earlier one.
To my surprise, I recognised the name of the alleged pirate. It was a very senior marketing executive and someone I respected. I decided to drop a text to ask.
Let's just say what transpired next caught me by surprise, though perhaps it shouldn't have. It was a mix of defensiveness, evasiveness, and irritation about the issue. But at no point was there an outright denial - which I imagine answers my question.
You can judge for yourself below.
ChatGPT: Can you rewrite the LinkedIn post on the left, retaining the ideas but changing the words and expanding it slightly with more drama and Southeast Asia context.
PS: By the way, I just checked on Saturday night, and the original post flagged in the chat group has been substantially lengthened and revised. So my asking did have an impact after all.
The exchange got me thinking: how do we define plagiarism in the age of AI? Granted, this wasn’t the blatant copying that’s become so common on LinkedIn. Still, the story arc, ideas, and even specific phrases were clearly recognisable. Just because a copy is perfectly written with more drama and flair, does that make copying acceptable?
And how would one define the line with AI anyway?
Rewriting an article to pass off as one's own.
Using a well-researched report to create a LinkedIn post.
Generate a blog post from a mashup of multiple articles.
Mimic the unique style or voice of a known thought leader.
Perhaps plagiarism is no longer a clear boundary, but a shifting shadow we need to redefine together.
Announcement: Full search, commenting
This week, I migrated my TechStories.co blog to a new provider. When I started hosted my stories on a standalone blog in April 2024, my purpose was to make it easy to find and share what I've written. Looking for old posts on LinkedIn is trying in the best of circumstances; imagine scrolling through hundreds of my posts!
(Left) New full post search; (Right) To comment, sign in with the email you used for this newsletter.
The blog worked, though I realised belatedly that the search capability of Ghost Pro was limited to headlines and excerpts. Well, I'm now on Magic Pages, which offers managed Ghost hosting. While it's pricier, I now have two capabilities I didn't have before: full text search and the ability to leave comments.
1. Full text search
Built on Typesense, the new search capability is lightning-fast. I'm particularly pleased with its support for multiple search terms, which makes searching through the 400 posts a breeze. Now, all I need to do is backfill the blog with my older articles from before March 2024...
2. You can now leave comments
I previously disabled the commenting feature due to the tiered pricing of Ghost Pro, which simply didn't make sense for a free newsletter. Magic Pages charges a flat rate, and I have enabled commenting as an experiment.
If you received this newsletter from me, you already have an account on the blog. All you need to do is click on "Sign in" with the email you used for this newsletter. A "magic link" will be sent by email. Click on it and you can now chime in with a comment - no password required.
Give it a try here and let me know what you think of it!
As usual, you can reach me by replying to this email, too - I respond within the week.
Regards, Paul Mah.
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