Does Turnitin Detect Chat GPT or AI-Generated Content?

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Understand how effective Turnitin is at detecting Chat GPT plagiarism

Co-authored by Rain Kengly Reviewed by Luigi Oppido

Last Updated: April 28, 2024 Fact Checked

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Can Turnitin Detect Chat GPT usage?

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Turnitin AI-Detection Rate

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Preventing AI-Detection

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Tips

Did you submit or receive an essay written with Chat GPT on Turnitin? Whether you're an educator or a student, there are ways to detect AI-generated work and prevent being caught when submitting work. Keep in mind AI technology is constantly advancing, so tools may become more or less efficient with time. This wikiHow will help you understand how Turnitin works to detect Chat GPT and other AI usage.

Things You Should Know

Turnitin has a 98% accuracy rate when detecting AI-generated work.
Turnitin's AI writing detector model has been trained with a comprehensive database of academic writing rather than public web content.
If a work is flagged as AI-generated, this should be treated as an indication rather than an accusation.

Section 1 of 3:

Can Turnitin Detect Chat GPT usage?

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Yes—Turnitin can tell if Chat GPT is used. Turnitin has built-in plagiarism-detection tools, and it can provide professors with an overall score of how closely submitted work resembles AI-generated content from 0% to 100%. However, as AI technology is always evolving, these tools constantly adjust with it.
- In some cases, Turnitin may flag assignments with "false positives." This is when the AI-detection tool incorrectly identifies human-written text as AI-generated.^{[1]
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- There are ways to check if something was AI-generated, such as looking for inaccurate statements, fake or inaccessible sources, unlikely wording, and more.

Section 2 of 3:

Turnitin AI-Detection Rate

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Turnitin can detect AI-generated content with 98% accuracy. This means that most cases flagged to be AI-generated by Turnitin are usually correct. However, Turnitin states that the scores received should be used as an indication rather than an accusation. False accusations of plagiarism can harm both parties' reputations, so it's important to use Turnitin's educator resources to proceed cautiously. ^{[2]
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- Turnitin's AI writing detector model has been trained specifically on "academic writing sourced from a comprehensive database" rather than public content you can find on the web.^{[3]
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  Research source} Because of this, Turnitin is more tuned to finding plagiarism in student assignments as opposed to other AI detection tools.

Section 3 of 3:

Preventing AI-Detection

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If you want to avoid getting caught, use AI tools with caution. There is no way to 100% guarantee your work won't be flagged by Turnitin if you do use Chat GPT or another AI. However, there are some ways to help prevent it.
- Use AI as a tool for writing outlines for essays rather than the entire essay itself.
- Avoid copying and pasting exact phrases or paragraphs, as AI speech patterns can easily be identified.
- Some third-party programs, such as QuillBot, claim to scan text and paraphrase it completely. This can help pass Turnitin's AI detection, but be aware that both AI generation and AI detection are constantly updating to bypass the other. What has worked in the past may not work next time.
EXPERT TIP

Tyrone Showers
Technologist
Tyrone Showers is a Technologist and the Co-owner of Taliferro Group, an IT consulting company based in Seattle, Washington. With over 35 years of professional experience, he specializes in API Design, e-Commerce, Operational Efficiency, and website development. He has a B.S. in Computer Science from DeVry Institute of Technology.

Tyrone Showers
Technologist

Pay close attention to the content ChatGPT generates. If you use ChatGPT often, you'll start noticing its patterns, like its tendency to begin articles with phrases like "in today's digital world." Once you spot patterns, you can refine your prompts to steer ChatGPT in a better direction and avoid repetitive content.

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Tips

If you're using Turnitin as an educator and your writing is flagged as AI-generated, always err on the side of caution and consider the possibility of a false positive before taking any action toward the writer.

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If you suspect AI-generated work but can't tell, have a conversation with the writer first. Instead of leading with an accusation, ask them about their work to ensure their knowledge aligns with the written content. You can ask about their writing process to see if they admit to using AI writing tools.

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