Insights from below deck: February 2023

Tool launched to detect AI-generated text

In January’s insights from below deck, we pondered ChatGPT’s potential word domination. Unsurprisingly, the widespread use of this revolutionary tool has posed problems in some applications, with some schools and universities struggling to determine whether coursework was actually written by the student. 

Now, OpenAI (the creator of ChatGPT) has launched a web-based AI Text Classifier tool to predict on a five-point scale how likely it is that text was written by AI, from ‘very unlikely’ to ‘likely’. This is noteworthy: if tools can identify AI-generated text, Google probably can, too. Automatically generated content is against Google’s guidelines, and publishing it could get your site flagged. It’s important to remember that while ChatGPT can be a useful tool for content writers to assimilate research quickly and concisely, the content itself should be written by a human.

Pinterest use can help reduce stress

A new study from UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Centre has found that 10 minutes of Pinterest per day helped decrease feelings of stress and burnout in Gen Z university students. Data showed that scrolling and finding inspiring content on Pinterest diminished the consequences of physical stress on students’ capacity for feeling positive and relaxed.

Why is this significant? Well, it suggests that Pinterest may be the perfect channel for health and wellbeing brands, or those aiming to motivate. Pinners want to feel inspired, so take this into consideration when writing or marketing content.

A #WorldWithoutNature2023 is here

Friday 3rd March is World Wildlife Day, but you may see less wildlife than usual – on your screens, at least. For the third year in a row, WWF is bringing back its #worldwithoutnature global activation, in which brands are encouraged to remove nature from their logos on their website and social media for the day. This serves to bring hundreds of brands together for a common cause – to highlight the dramatic loss of biodiversity our planet is facing.

Netlify acquires Gatsby Inc.

Netlify, the leading platform for modern web development, has acquired Gatsby Inc, creators of the open source framework Gatsby. This is Netlify’s latest move to empower developers to build a better web. Netlify’s CEO Matt Biilmann said the acquisition of Gatsby “allows us to provide developers with increased flexibility and choice in building composable web experiences”.

This is exciting for us, as it means Gatsby’s content hub and source plugin ecosystem can be opened up to the diverse world of modern frontend frameworks like Astro, Next, and Remix, giving us greater freedom in web development.