AI brings a lot of confusion to an academic environment. Some teachers try to ban it, while others encourage the usage of chatbots to a particular extent, on which AI implementation is considered ethical and appropriate. But where is the borderline, and how can one be sure they don’t cross it while preparing an assignment? And, most importantly, can universities detect AI, and what to do if your professor accuses you of AI cheating?
How universities detect AI
While some professors rely on their intuition and expertise, most of them use AI detectors. These tools are designed to distinguish between human-written and chatbot-generated content and flag the machine-produced parts, providing the professor with the report. So, the instructor can see, which parts of your essay may be potentially generated. Why potentially? Because no AI detector is 100% accurate.
AI models learn to write similarly to humans, while humans sometimes write with the traits characteristic of machine-generated content. Especially it concerns non-native speakers, whose vocabulary and lexical constructions toolkit may be limited, hence more predictable. Meanwhile, predictability is one of the main characteristics that AI detectors consider to decide whether the text was crafted by a human or a robot. Does this mean that anyone can be accused of AI cheating even when honestly working on the assignment? Unfortunately, it does.
The good news is that the AI detectors never tell professors, “This student 100% cheated, and the assignment is generated by AI,” or “This text is 100% written by a human.” AI checkers show the probability, that is the extent to which certain parts of content match the parameters the tool knows about AI and human texts.
The bad news is that not all the teachers are aware of it. Many perceive the AI report as an ultimate verdict. What can you do then to avoid accusations and prove your authentic effort? First of all, ensure your work is really authentic.
How to use AI ethically
If AI involvement is allowed by your instructor and institution, use it for a creative boost or as a writing assistant. Do not generate any extracts of text to use in your essay or assignment, since the AI detector will flag them as machine output. What can you do with a chatbot to help with your writing?
- Brainstorm: ask AI for ideas, try different styles to find the right tone of voice, and test approaches before you go on with your writing.
- Broaden vocabulary: ask for synonyms and opposites, look for another way to say the same things, check whether the phrases you use are informal or formal, and explore new ways to express your ideas.
- Stay informed and creative: get examples to illustrate your thoughts, look for novel facts, and ensure you fact-check all the details you include in your paper.
How to prove you haven’t cheated writing the assignment
So, you have done your part, and your paper looks all good and polished. But what if your professor still says it was AI-generated because their tool shows them AI content traces?
Breathe in, breathe out, and try to talk to your teacher. The best way to prove your authentic work is to provide as many details of your process as possible. Share your ideas and way of thinking while writing, present all the drafts and materials you collected before putting them together into the final piece, and express your willingness to answer the questions regarding the topic. It may work. Or not, since many professors prefer to rely on solid data, that is an AI detection report.
What should you do then? Present some solid data from your side!
Use Integrito while writing your work to prove it’s authentic.
How exactly does it work?
- After installing the Integrito extension for your browser, you work on your assignment in Google Docs as usual.
- The Integrito extension will track your progress. It will meticulously record the endless hours you spent working on the assignment, reflect that it took you ten sessions to complete it, that no one else helped you to write the text, and that you didn’t insert the whole piece out of nowhere. The whole writing history will be neatly presented in the Activity Report, apparent and transparent!
- In case of any concerns or questions, you can share the Integrito Activity Report with your professor. They can use it to double-check the AI detection results: if the checker says the part of your work looks suspicious, Integrito can prove that you spent hours on writing it from scratch, and haven’t copy-pasted it from the chatbot!
Integrito helps students and teachers to build trust and protect academic integrity together. Try now to see how it works!
