Strategies for Educators to Identify Student Use of Artificial Intelligence
In the realm of education, a growing concern is the increasing use of AI to generate parts of student papers. Here's a breakdown of the common indicators that can help educators identify AI-generated writing in student essays.
Common Tells of AI-Generated Writing
- Lack of Engagement Techniques: AI essays often lack personal asides, rhetorical questions, and persuasive language, which human writers typically use to engage readers. AI writing tends to be more formal and lacks the conversational tone that humans use to make content compelling.
- Repeated Key Phrases and Unnatural Sentences: AI writing often repeats key terms from the prompt or assignment, and its sentences can feel stiff or robotic. This repetition and unnatural flow are unlike the varied and nuanced language used by humans.
- Inaccuracies and Fabricated Facts (Hallucinations): AI chatbots may produce false or misleading information due to their inability to verify facts as effectively as humans.
- Generic and Repetitive Explanations: AI tends to circle around the same points without delving deeper, offering generic explanations that lack the depth and insight typical of human writing.
- Tone Inconsistencies: The style and tone of AI writing may not match the writer's usual voice or personality, making it sound overly formal or formulaic.
- Overly Polished Language: AI-generated content is often grammatically perfect but lacks the mistakes and imperfections that make human writing more relatable. This polish can make essays feel emotionally flat or disconnected from the student's real voice.
- Lack of Variation and Flow: AI writing typically stays very much "on task" without tangents or flow breaks, which are common in human writing as it often pulls from a variety of related or unrelated ideas.
Strategies to Detect AI-Generated Essays
- Read for Engagement: Look for essays that engage the reader with personal anecdotes and rhetorical devices.
- Check for Repeated Phrases and Facts: Identify if key terms are overly repeated or if the essay includes unverified or inaccurate information.
- Assess Tone and Voice: Ensure that the tone aligns with what you know about the student's writing style.
- Evaluate Depth and Variation: Determine if the essay explores ideas with depth and variation or if it feels overly generic and repetitive.
By focusing on these aspects, educators can better identify AI-generated content and encourage authentic, quality writing from students.
The author of this article, in dealing with the rising issue of AI-generated papers, mentions two related articles: "My Students Are Submitting AI Papers. Here's What I Do" and "10 Ways to Detect AI Writing Without Technology." Commonly used AI words include "fundamentally," "shaping," "identities," "disparities," "complexities," "intricate," and "empower."
A study comparing students and AI writing revealed that 78% of human papers contained errors compared to just 13% of AI papers. However, the details of this study were not provided. The typography of AI-generated text can reveal subtle clues, such as straight apostrophes in a document formatted in Times New Roman or Calibri.
A technique for catching AI users red-handed is to include specific instructions in a white font that won't be seen by most students. If the student copies and pastes the prompt into an AI tool, it will generate work containing the specified elements. However, the author raises concerns about the technique's accessibility, as it could potentially be heard by students using text-to-voice technology.
ChatGPT uses 35% less unique vocabulary than students. One educator noted that students who use AI tend to overuse certain phrases like "delve into the tapestry of literary work." AI-generated writing can feel soulless and non-human, often lacking a personal style or meaning.
Some educators have noticed similar trends in AI-generated work. Brian Clements, director of the Kathwari Honors Program at Western Connecticut State University, finds AI's most striking tell to be similarity in paragraph transitions and language from other student papers.
The author has not personally used the technique for catching AI users, but finds the idea appealing after dealing with many AI-generated papers. The author concludes by emphasising the importance of encouraging authentic, quality writing from students.
- In the discussion surrounding AI-generated papers, a strategy suggested by some educators is to incorporate specific instructions in hidden fonts, aiming to expose AI use when these instructions appear in the generated work.
- While AI-generated content may exhibit high levels of grammatical precision, it often lacks the unique vocabulary and personal style that typify human writing, as demonstrated by the observation that ChatGPT uses 35% less unique vocabulary than students.
- In the realm of education-and-self-development, it's essential for teachers to be knowledgeable about indicators of AI-generated writing, such as the lack of engagement techniques, repeated key phrases, and generic explanations, to foster authentic, quality learning among students.
