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How to check for AI-generated text
Over the last few years, artificial intelligence has brought about significant changes in the way we create and consume content. We are now at the age of text, images, audio, videos, and other multimedia created using AI tools, partially or fully, one way or another.
The use of AI promised to make accessing information more comprehensive and efficient. However, it has also brought many concerns regarding its ethicality. Since its conception, AI has been a tool for deception, particularly in the academic field.
For that reason, it has become crucial for every member of academia to know how to identify AI-generated content. If youâre one of those who have no clue how to check a paper for AI yet, this article is for you.
How to detect AI writing
Can you spot AI-generated text? How to check for AI-generated text? Is AI detection accurate? Yes, you can detect AI-generated content, but AI detection tools are not 100% reliable. As such, you canât rely solely on a free tool to figure out if an essay is in breach of academic integrity.
So, how to detect AI-generated content and fix it too? Our advice is to do a blended approach that combines the use of AI detector tools and the knowledge of what likely looks like AI writing. Upon detection, you can then work on rephrasing or rewriting the text flagged by the checker.
Letâs find out more about what an AI writing tool is, what AI detector tools you can use, and what ways can help you detect AI writing.
What is an AI detector tool?
These are tools that let you know if content is possibly generated by AI. But just how accurate is AI detection? Well, they are not always reliable and are found to often make mistakes, particularly mistaking human-written text as AI. AI detectors use machine learning and natural language processing or large language models to analyze a textâs grammar, tone, and style to determine if itâs AI or not.
You must remember, however, that these tools are not 100% accurate. There are many instances of them flagging false positives for reasons such as:
- Human-written content follows the same patterns as trained AI detectors.
- Human-written text uses repetitive language and ideas, the same with AI text.
- The use of unusual grammar and phrasing, which AI detectors might flag as AI.
- The use of complex language and various writing styles confuses AI checkers.
It is expected that as AI tools evolve, the more difficult it is for AI detection tools to identify whether a text is human-written or not.
Commonly used AI content detection tools
How to get rid of AI detection? How to check for AI plagiarism? The easiest way is to use the following popular AI detection tools to check your paper and fix it before you even submit.
Originality.ai
This AI checker uses machine learning to detect AI-generated text and plagiarized content. Itâs one of the most accurate AI detection tools (98% for Lite and 99+% for the Turbo version).
GPTZero
GPTZero is designed to check ChatGPT content. It analyzes content up to the sentence, paragraph, and document. Itâs also really convenient with its paid version, capable of checking files from a whole class at one time.
Scribbr
This is a free AI detector that can detect if a text is generated by AI tools like ChatGPT, Copilot, and Gemini. It highlights which text is human-written and AI-generated for easy correction.
GLTR.io
GLTR.io does in-depth checking. It does a forensic inspection of the language modelâs visual footprint to determine whether you have AI or human-written content.
ZeroGPT
ZeroGPT is another free tool that can help make sure content is unique and not AI-generated text. It's widely known for its high detection rate of 98.5%.
If itâs how to check a paper for AI, simply use the above-mentioned detectors.
Do colleges check for AI?
Do colleges check for AI? Can colleges detect AI? More specifically, do colleges check for AI in application essays? With numerous applicants eager to get into their dream schools, many are looking into various ways they can do so, including AI use in their application essays.
A significant majority of todayâs students use AI in their studies, leading to numerous colleges and universities employing advanced software to screen AI authorship in applications sent to them. So the answer as to whether they check AI or not is âYes!â
Do admissions officers check for AI? Yes, they do, with the use of AI detection tools designed to decode AI usage. While this is the case in many schools, it's been noted that it also has the negative effects of false accusations of plagiarism due to AI detection errors.
What AI detector do colleges use?
How do professors check for AI? What do professors use to check for AI? What do colleges use to detect AI? All these questions, and here we have some answers for you:
How do professors detect AI?
Itâs by using AI detectors, of course! Itâs their primary method for checking if your paper or assignment is AI-generated, but not the only one. Many of them can tell simply by looking at the writing itself, but for the most part, they use AI checkers.
What do professors use to detect AI?
They use a variety of tools, and we have mentioned some of them already, which are considered the best AI detectors. Other than them, college professors and high school teachers alike often also use the following checkers:
TurnItIn
Itâs one of the most common tools used to âdetect if written by AI,â but was originally developed as a plagiarism checker. It has since added AI detection tools into it so it can assist in checking a personâs academic integrity.
Grammarly
Grammarly is the most popular tool for grammar and spell checking. Now it has also added plagiarism and an AI detection tool to its capabilities. How to avoid AI detection in writing? Use Grammarly to track original content, so you can rewrite or rephrase and get past detection.
CopyLeaks
This is an AI checker that can support multiple languages, providing a detailed report of why your writing was flagged. Itâs an excellent tool with high accuracy, but it may still have false flags from time to time.
If you want to know âWhat is the best AI detector?â, know that itâs hard to pick, but to make the most of their abilities, our advice is to combine them for extra thorough detection.
How to avoid AI detection
So you now realize the AI struggles that come with the use of this technology. More so, these are struggles you might encounter even if you don't use AI due to AI detection toolsâ inaccuracy. On that note, here are some tricks on how to bypass AI detector:
Use AI as an assistant only
On how to get past AI detectors, one of the simplest strategies is to use AI only to support your writing, not as the writer itself. Use it to generate inspiration or outlines, find a different perspective on the problem or topic, or answer questions. Just donât use it to write your school essays entirely.
Edit AI writing to make it more human
If you ever use AI for writing, then one of the things you can do to avoid getting flagged by AI detection tools is to edit it to sound more human. You will have to edit it line by line and make significant changes. Our tip is to use the top AI content mistakes we've highlighted below when editing your content.
Have your writing edited by a human
If youâre unable to write at all and canât edit the content yourself, the next best thing is to hire a human proofreader and editor. They can do the work of making liberal changes to your text so it doesnât get flagged by an AI detector.
How to trick AI detector
How to trick an AI detector? Here are some ways you can try to achieve your goal of how to get around AI detectors easily.
1. Intentional bad grammar or spelling
You can trick an AI content detection tool and make it think your AI-generated text is human-written by adding common writing mistakes. For instance, you can intentionally add wrong spellings, commas in the wrong places, or random spaces anywhere. Thereâs a good chance the AI checker thinks youâre a human with your errors.
2. Use another AI to rewrite and humanize it
How to pass AI detection? Here is a trick, but keep in mind that it doesnât work all the time - using another AI model to rewrite your already AI-written content. You can ask the other AI writer to determine if your text sounds AI, ask for tips to humanize it, and get it to implement tips to help you out.
3. Or, you can simply write it yourself
The best trick on how to remove AI detection, but perhaps the most difficult one, is writing the content yourself. If you want to always be able to trick AI content checkers despite them getting smarter than ever, write the essay yourself. This will certainly have you making the errors that AI models donât, the same things youâd be doing to "fix" the AI-generated text anyway.
Top AI content mistakes
You now have an idea of how to trick or avoid AI detectors or ensure your human-written content is mistaken as AI-generated text. On that note, below are some of the top AI content mistakes that can further help you prevent detection.
1. Repetitive writing
The most obvious sign is the repetitive phrases and ideas. An AI model doesn't have the ability to recognize redundancy, and thus is unable to avoid it. So, a text with a lot of words and phrases repeated throughout has a high chance of being AI-generated content.
2. Formulaic sentence structures
An AI writing tool relies heavily on common phrases and idioms, so they are often used in AI-generated content more often than in human-written text. So content with a lot of odd sentences, extra phrases that don't add value, and sounds too formal is likely AI-generated.
3. Frequent use of some words common in AI writing
Just like with the common phrases and idioms, there are some words often found in AI-generated writing. Some of these are âdelveâ, âcrucialâ, âfurthermoreâ, âconsequentlyâ, and ânot only but.â Overuse of these words is a recognizable sign of AI writing.
4. Inaccurate claims and facts
One of the biggest dangers of using an AI model is its tendency to present incorrect information as an accurate source. This can be misleading and may lead you to make incorrect statements. If you notice a text has questionable information or claims, then that could be AI-generated content.
5. Dull tone of voice
You would have some inkling that content is produced by generative AI by its monotonous tone. Slang, colloquialisms, and informal language add flavor to any writing. This is something that AI-generated writing finds difficult to replicate.
6. Generic explanations
Filler words are common with AI-generated content. They sound well-written and complex, but AI writing is not very meaningful with its generic explanations and vague descriptions. If the content doesnât provide plenty of relevant details, there is a good chance it is an AI text.
7. Not understanding the subject matter
AI can predict what the next sentence will be based on the prior text. However, they donât really understand what it was all about. AI models still have limited subject matter expertise, so the writing they produce can lack meaning.
8. Outdated information
It's also very common in AI-generated content to have outdated sources. So, to determine if an essay or assignment is made by AI use, check that the statistics, news, and referenced studies are all correct and recent.
How does AI detection work?
How does an AI detector work? How does AI detection work for essays? In this era where AI is used in nearly everything, AI checkers have become a necessary tool, particularly for those in academia or the journalism field.
AI detectors, just like AI writing tools, are based on certain language models. These language models look at the input or the text you are checking, asking themselves if the text is the type of thing it would have written itself. If it answers "Yes," then the input will be deemed AI-generated.
Since it uses the same language model as that of AI writers, it should be able to recognize the similarity, but weâve already established that it isnât foolproof. Now, how exactly do the AI models recognize AI? Itâs all based on two variables - perplexity and burstiness.
Perplexity
This variable is all about how confusing or unpredictable the text is to the reader. AI writers aim to make content with low perplexity, meaning it should be easier and smoother to read. Keep in mind that human-written content has higher perplexity, being more creatively written and filled with more errors.
Burstiness
This variable is all about the differences in sentence structure and length. It is similar to perplexity, but this one focuses on the sentences and not the words. A text has low burstiness if there are not many variations in how long the sentence is and how it is structured.
So now that you have the answer to âHow does an AI detector work?â, you get the idea that AI detection tools can determine that your writing is AI-generated if it has low perplexity and low burstiness.
Do you have any additional questions about AI detection tools and how to detect AI-generated content? Check out the FAQs below.
FAQ
You can use AI without plagiarizing by paraphrasing the content and still citing your sources the same way you do with human-written content. Ideally, you should also simply use AI for outlining, summarizing information, and generating ideas. Always verify your sources.
How can teachers detect AI? If youâre asking, âHow do teachers detect AI in high school?â, itâs the same as they do in colleges. Theyâre equipped with AI detectors to help with making sure youâre not breaking your academic integrity.
But even without the use of AI detectors, teachers are quite adept at recognizing whether you use AI or not. They are familiar with the quirks of AI writing, so they can spot that in the text. Most of them can also tell your writing style and can differentiate it from AI text.
What do teachers use to check for AI? What AI detector do teachers use? Some of the most common are Grammarly, Copyleaks, TurnItIn, Originality.ai, Scribbr, and GPTZero.
What is the most reliable AI detector? According to recent studies, the most accurate AI checker is Originality.ai. It has 98.2% accuracy when detecting ChatGPT text. Some of the other reputable AI detection tools with high accuracy rates include Scribbr, GPTZero, GLTR.io, and ZeroGPT.
Yes. Using Grammarly to rewrite and rephrase your text can lead to AI content detection, as it is still AI writing. As much as possible, be transparent with your teacher about what tools you use to create your essays or other content. It also helps, of course, to follow the tips and tricks mentioned in the article on how to avoid AI detection.
Canvas uses Turnitinâs SimCheck software to detect AI. Itâs sophisticated technology, but accuracy can still vary. Itâs still best to use a combination of tools and human review to ensure your paper wonât be flagged.
Can Turnitin detect AI? Yes, it can. While it used to only be capable of checking for plagiarism, itâs now added the ability to detect if your paper was written by an AI model.
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