Professors have had to turn into the modern equivalent of Blade Runners, tracking down synthetic productions in a world also populated by human-made alternatives. In other words, they have to find out which students wrote their own essays and which used ChatGPT.
It’s not an easy task, nor is it a perfect science. Some professors rely on their own instincts and familiarity with students to identify fraudulent submissions. Others utilize the spate of AI detectors that have flooded the education marketplace. Some use both.
There is no perfect method for hunting down and exposing AI-generated writing, which means students are falsely accused of cheating all the time. If you or your student is accused, do not wait to call the LLF National Law Firm Student Defense Team today at 888-535-3686 or contact us online. Defending students is what we do.
The Eye Test: Are There Telltale Signs to AI Writing That a Trained Professor Might Spot?
Long before they heard the word “generative AI,” professors fancied themselves sleuths—like Columbo for the classroom. Many of the same tactics that once tipped professors off to students hiring third parties to write their papers translate well to the AI era, and those tactics include looking for:
- Writing that feels too polished, especially compared with the student’s prior written submissions
- A total lack of grammatical and punctuation errors
- A manner of speaking (in written form) that does not mesh with the student’s dialect
Then there are the tactics that are more unique to the age of generative AI. For instance, finding that unique turns of phrases pop up frequently in different students’ works could suggest that several students used the same AI to write their papers.
Of course, even the most trained, instinctive detectives get it wrong. There is no doubt that many professors have falsely accused many students of leaning on Claude or ChatGPT to produce top-shelf literature—when, in reality, the student just tried really hard.
AI Detectors: The More Common Way for Professors to Decipher Human Writing from Robotic Outputs?
The majority of professors likely recognize their limited ability to differentiate AI-written work from human-written work. Many of them have the utmost confidence, however, in AI’s ability to detect AI’s creations.
AI-powered detectors, from Turnitin to GPTZero, promise to:
- Convert written words into statistical figures, which it then analyzes to evaluate the likelihood that any given input was AI-generated
- Deploy AI-level efficiency for the purpose of identifying potentially AI-generated works, with education being one of the clearest use cases for the technology
- Take some of the guesswork out of determining whether works were AI-generated
It is essential to note the phrase “some of the guesswork.” That phrase was intentional, as even those who believe they have the most cutting-edge, accurate AI detectors would have to admit that the technology is imperfect.
Here’s the Truth: No Person or Machine Can Spot AI-Generated Writing Without Fail
The truth is that the only person who knows, 100% without a doubt, whether a work is AI-generated or human-written is the person who submits it.
Humans can be absolutely certain that they are looking at an AI-generated work, and they can be dead wrong. Confirmation bias—our instinct to look for evidence supporting our preconceived beliefs—is among the many human flaws that prevent any professor from reliably detecting when a student has submitted an AI-generated paper.
At the same time, we know that AI detectors make mistakes. Some observers have even described false positive rates as “dangerously high.”
Yet, educators continue to rely on both their own guesswork and faulty AI detectors to determine if students have done their own work or outsourced it to OpenAI or Meta. What could go wrong?
What Goes Wrong When Professors Rely on Flawed Resources to Detect AI-Generated Writing?
Whether a professor is using their own “wits” or “hunches,” or they are relying on a tool like GPTZero, it’s a fact that their methods are flawed. So who pays the price when someone is searching for academic misconduct with a broken detector?
The student pays the price. Too often, when a student is accused of generating their academic work using artificial intelligence, they:
- Are immediately presumed guilty of the offense they have been accused of
- Get no unfettered, unbiased opportunity to explain themselves and plead their case (even if they have a token “hearing”)
- Ultimately face severe sanctions—sometimes even including suspension and expulsion—all because a professor or AI detector accused them
In a fair world, the student would have the presumption of innocence from the get-go. In that fair world, educational authorities would recognize that both humans and AI detectors are imperfect, and would have to find evidence beyond the initial flagging before they imposed sanctions upon the student.
Unfortunately, the majority of schools we have encountered treat the student as if they undoubtedly committed an infraction as soon as they are accused. It is our job—a job we could not be more proud of—to prove that the student has been falsely accused of using generative AI in their work.
Students Accused of Misconduct May Find No Advocates Around Them. That’s Why We Exist.
To be clear, we do not only defend students wrongfully accused of using AI in their work. Some students make the mistake of using ChatGPT or another platform to write their words for them, and we help ensure that their schools do not drop the disciplinary hammer on them.
If you are a student accused of wrongdoing, the LLF National Law Firm is the team to hire because:
- We have a years-long resume loaded with meaningful student-defense experience
- Our firm has dealt both amicably and aggressively with universities nationwide, and our experience dealing with those schools and their lawyers cannot be imitated
- You simply do not want to call the lawyer on the local billboard when you are facing potential life-changing discipline—you want a team that cares deeply about, and truly knows about, student defense
Do not wait. Call the LLF National Law Firm Student Defense Team today at 888-535-3686 or contact us online.