№ 6 The State of AI Writing on Hacker News · September 2026

September's front page averaged 17% AI-generated.

Pangram flagged 17% of the month's 450 analyzed stories as AI-generated. That's 2pp lower than the month before.

Issue №6 Analyzed 450 stories Across 30 days From 332 distinct domains By HN AI Detector

1 in 6

front-page stories was AI-generated

Pangram flagged 76 of 450 analyzed stories as AI this month.

-2pp

change versus the previous month

The front page ran less AI than August 2026.

45%

of github.com was AI-generated

Of domains with at least three stories this month, github.com had the highest AI share.

— The trend

AI % on the HN front page, every day of Sep

30 days · daily rolling avg

Prev. avg: 19% · this month: 3%

10%

15%

20%

prev avg · 19%

Sep 01Sep 08Sep 15Sep 22Sep 30

Below 17% 17–20% 20% and above Highest day: 22% on Sep 02

— Trending up

vs. previous month

— Steady

vs. previous month