January 9, 2024|Rachel Barton
Turnitin Originality, the centrally supported originality and plagiarism checker made available by Purdue through its Brightspace learning management system, is adding a feature to scan for writing generated by artificial intelligence (AI) systems such as ChatGPT.
The update, set to take place April 4, will happen automatically and Purdue does not have the ability to turn it off, nor have Purdue West Lafayette, Purdue Fort Wayne, Purdue Northwest, or Purdue Global support staff been able to pre-test its functionality and features. Turnitin will demonstrate this technology for all Purdue instructors via Zoom on Wednesday, April 5, from 11-11:30 a.m. CT, 12-12:30 p.m. ET.
Instructors should be cautious about relying fully on results from the system because it may return false positives or fail to detect some AI-generated material.
Turnitin states: “We only flag something as AI-written when we are 98% sure it is written by AI. This is because we want to make sure we don’t falsely flag something as AI-generated that isn’t. This means, however, that we will likely miss up to 15% of text written by AI, with a less than 1% false positive rate (incorrectly identifying fully human-written text as AI-generated). While Turnitin has confidence in its model, Turnitin does not make a determination of misconduct, rather it provides data for the educators to make an informed decision based on their academic and institutional policies. Hence, we must emphasize that the percentage on the AI writing indicator should not be used as the sole basis for action or a definitive grading measure by instructors.”
The AI-checking feature will appear to users as an additional indicator within the Similarity Report interface. All submissions made to Turnitin after April 4 will automatically be checked for AI writing. The AI writing detection indicator and report will only display to instructors and is not visible to students.
Turnitin scans files submitted through Brightspace assignments, but only if the instructor has turned it on for an assignment. A Similarity Report is then produced highlighting areas of the paper that match content in Turnitin’s database.
For more information on Turnitin’s new AI-checking capability, please seethe company’s FAQs.
For questions and support at your campus, contact:
Purdue Fort Wayne: Teaching-related questions should be directed to PFW’s Center for the Enhancement of Learning and Teaching (CELT) atcelt@pfw.edu, 260-481-6354, or visitCELT’s websitefor resources and to request one-on-one consultations. Technical support questions should be directed to PFW’s IT Services Help Deskhelpdesk@pfw.eduor 260-481-6030.
Purdue Global: Direct teaching-related questions toaskctl@purdueglobal.edu. Technical support questions should be directed toTechSupport@purdueglobal.eduor 866-522-7747 (toll free).
Purdue Northwest: Direct teaching-related questions to the Center for Faculty Excellence atcfe@pnw.edu, 219-989-8328, or visitCFE’s website. Technical support questions should be directed to the Office of Instructional Technology by emailoit@pnw.eduorOIT’s websiteor through theirZoom Consultation Link
Purdue West Lafayette: Visit theInnovative Learning websiteor emailTLT@purdue.edu.
FAQs
“ After accessing the Feedback Studio, you can click on the AI Writing Indicator icon (regardless of what percentage is displayed) to open a new tab in your Web Browser, which will allow you to access the detailed report, in which the suspected AI-written text will be highlighted to draw your attention to it.
How to avoid AI detection on Turnitin? ›
How can I pass the Turnitin check without getting detected by its system? The best way to avoid AI detection by Turnitin is to follow a complex strategy: pick an unusual topic, research it deeply, paraphrase your findings, cite your sources, and try writing by hand.
Why do AI detectors say my writing is AI? ›
AI content detectors are not always shown to be 100% accurate and can often lead to false positives. Since AI detection tools rely on writing patterns and language structures that are characteristic of AI-generated content, they can incorrectly flag human-written articles that mimic a similar style.
Is it possible for AI detectors to be wrong? ›
The main problem with current AI detectors is that they lack sufficient accuracy. High rates of both false positives and false negatives are common. These systems can estimate a rough probability that content is AI-generated, but cannot directly validate the true origin of text.
How to avoid AI detection? ›
Avoid AI detection by mixing up how you phrase things and the words you choose. Think about replacing overused phrases with synonyms that might not come first to mind but still convey the same meaning. It's also crucial not just for avoiding duplication but for enriching the reader's experience too.
Does undetectable AI work for Turnitin? ›
Undetectable AI can't bypass Turnitin. We know this might come as a shock, considering the high ranking of Undetectable AI on Forbes. However, our experiment has shown that if you need to bypass Turnitin, then you shouldn't use Undetectable AI to humanize content.
How accurate is Turnitin AI detection in 2024? ›
In conclusion, our extensive testing uncovers a concerning reality: Turnitin fails to live up to its reputation as a reliable AI detection tool. While it occasionally managed to detect AI-generated text, the presence of substantial inaccuracies resulted in false positives, undermining its credibility.
How to make your essay not AI detectable? ›
With this method, you want to focus on:
- Changing repetitive sentence structure by moving clauses or breaking long sentences up into shorter ones.
- Replacing commonly used words and phrases with synonyms.
- Adding transition phrases.
- Using contractions to sound more conversational.
Yes, Turnitin can detect content generated by Chat GPT. ChatGPT, developed by OpenAI, is one of the leading conversational AI models. It has become popular for its ability to generate human-like text.
Can professors tell if you use AI? ›
Experience and intuition: Ultimately, teachers and professors can indeed draw on their experience and intuition to detect whether a piece of work was AI-generated. They're usually familiar with their students' writing styles and capabilities, so they can quickly notice if the work deviates from the norm.
Content may be flagged as AI for various reasons, including partial use of AI in generating paper templates, employing AI tools for writing and subsequent rewriting with spinning tools, being falsely identified as AI due to non-native English language use, lacking a personal touch and first-person voice, using ...
Does Grammarly get flagged as AI on Turnitin? ›
When using Grammarly for spelling or grammatical errors, the impact regarding AI content detectors is minimal. When using Grammarly's rewrite and rephrase features, this can lead to content getting flagged as AI-generated.
How reliable is Turnitin AI detection? ›
So, is the Turnitin AI detector accurate? Based on our testing, Turnitin has shown substantial efficiency in detecting AI text, yet it also occasionally faltered, producing dubious or incorrect results. This unpredictability renders it a challenging tool to work with.
How do I prove my paper was not written by AI? ›
Not only instructors, even you, If you want to check if the paper is written by AI, consider assessing language fluency, examining personal voice and experiences, evaluating knowledge depth, checking citation consistency, scrutinizing research trails, and using AI detectors such as Turnitin, GPTZero, and Copyleaks.
How to prove you did not use AI? ›
Additionally, if you have documentation outlining your writing process, such as brainstorming notes, outlines, or a writing journal, share this to support your claim that AI was not involved.
How do I check if my essay is AI-generated? ›
Steps in Identifying AI Written Content
- Look for issues with the content. The absence of intellectual depth and intricacy in written content is one of the most conspicuous warning signals indicating that AI may have generated the paper. ...
- Compare The Essay With The Student's Previous Performance. ...
- Use AI-detection software.
In conclusion, our extensive testing uncovers a concerning reality: Turnitin fails to live up to its reputation as a reliable AI detection tool. While it occasionally managed to detect AI-generated text, the presence of substantial inaccuracies resulted in false positives, undermining its credibility.
Can Turnitin detect chat GPT if you paraphrase? ›
Yes, Turnitin can identify instances of paraphrased content by comparing submitted papers to its extensive database of academic resources.
Does Turnitin detect Grammarly as AI? ›
1. Is Grammarly flagged on Turnitin? Turnitin doesn't identify Grammarly's spelling, grammar, or punctuation changes. However, if you use Grammarly AI, Turnitin will flag it as AI content.
