AI Essay Detection: A New Tool to Combat Plagiarism
The Challenge of AI-Generated Text
The advent of powerful AI text-generating bots like ChatGPT has raised concerns among educators about the potential for plagiarism. Students may be tempted to use these tools to generate essays and pass them off as their own work.
A New Weapon Against AI Plagiarism
In response to this challenge, Edward Tian, a Princeton University student, has developed GPTZero, an app that aims to determine whether a piece of text was written by a human or AI.
How GPTZero Works
GPTZero analyzes two key variables:
- Perplexity: Measures the complexity of the writing. Human-written text tends to be more complex, with varied sentence length and structure.
- Burstiness: Evaluates the variability of the writing. AI-generated text often exhibits a more uniform and predictable pattern.
Based on these metrics, GPTZero can predict with high accuracy whether a text was written by a human or AI.
Accuracy and Limitations
GPTZero has been tested against AI-generated text and human-written articles, demonstrating a less than 2% false positive rate. However, it is important to note that no detection tool is foolproof.
Protecting Academic Integrity
For educators, GPTZero provides a valuable tool to maintain academic integrity and ensure that students are not using AI to cheat. By identifying AI-generated essays, professors can take appropriate action to address plagiarism.
Responsible AI Use
Tian emphasizes that he is not opposed to AI but advocates for responsible use. He believes that students should be transparent about their use of AI and that educators should guide them in using it effectively for learning, not cheating.
AI Detection and Mitigation
OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, is also working on ways to identify text generated by its bot. One idea is a watermark, an unnoticeable signal that accompanies AI-generated text.
Conclusion
GPTZero is a significant step forward in the fight against AI plagiarism. By providing educators with a tool to detect AI-generated essays, it helps to protect academic integrity and foster a culture of responsible AI use.
Additional Information
- GPTZero is available as a free web app.
- Educators are encouraged to use GPTZero in conjunction with other plagiarism detection methods.
- Students should be aware of the potential consequences of using AI to plagiarize.
