Pangram Labs adds real-time AI labels to its Chrome extension

In short: A new version of Pangram Labs’ Chrome extension can label posts as likely AI-written while you scroll on popular social sites.

What happened

Pangram Labs has updated its Chrome browser extension to scan text on sites like Reddit, X, LinkedIn, Medium, and Substack in real time. As you scroll, it adds a label that says the text looks human-written, AI-generated, or written with some AI help.

Think of it like a spam filter for writing, except it is trying to spot computer-written text instead of unwanted email. The tool also shows how confident it is, using simple terms like low, medium, or high.

WIRED reported that the extension flagged an ordinary post on Reddit’s r/AmItheAsshole as AI-generated. It also flagged several posts from the Pope’s official X account, including messages about AI and global conflicts, although some posts were labeled as human-written. The Vatican did not respond to WIRED’s request for comment.

Pangram says its detection system is highly accurate and has been rated well by outside researchers, including a 2025 University of Chicago audit. Like any detection tool, it can still make mistakes, but Pangram claims its false positives are rare, especially on longer text.

Why it matters

AI-written posts are becoming common online, and they can make it harder to tell what is real, what is marketing, and what is made up for attention. A tool that adds warning labels as you read could help people pause before trusting a viral story, even if it looks calm and believable.

Source: Wired