How Does AI Detection Work: The Mechanism, Limitations, and Accuracy

After the release of publicly available natural language processing and large language models like ChatGPT, Claude, and similar, AI-generated content has integrated into many spheres. Its use continues getting more and more common in business, marketing, professional writing, and, of course, academic writing. 

And while some industries allow the use of artificial intelligence, some have strict policies against it. Namely, educators and professionals in content moderation often double-check texts to see if they were generated, and AI detector software is meant to help them do it efficiently.

In a nutshell, this kind of software is designed to detect patterns, word choice, and structure typically used by AI to estimate the likelihood of a text being generated with AI. If you are a writer, student, or teacher, chances are that you will need to use such tools in your daily life too. 

But how do they work? Let’s figure it out now!

What Is AI Detection, and Do AI Detectors Actually Work?

AI detection is a generalized term used to define the process of using specialized software to detect AI-generated content in text, code, and various media (i.e., images, videos, etc.). 

AI detectors are trained to recognize typical characteristics, patterns, and metadata inherent in AI content and predict the likelihood of content generation based on them. They are also trained to differentiate fully human-created work and human+AI work to offer greater accuracy.

Such solutions are now actively used in different industries to verify and authenticate content. But do they really work? 

Yes, in general, AI-detection software works. However, it’s worth noting that AI algorithms are learning and evolving rapidly. This fact makes it hard to make AI checks truly accurate – these tools still can miss out on signs of AI or falsely detect human content.

In order to understand how to use them with maximum efficiency, it’s important to know how exactly these solutions work.

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How Do AI Detectors Work From A to Z?

Now that you have a general idea of what they are meant to do, the big question is – how do AI detectors know when content is human or not?

When you input written content in the selected tool, the detection process consists of several stages:

• Text analysis. First, the software scans and analyzes your text for various points, including sentence structure, variations of language structures, etc.
• Comparison. The tool compares your text to existing samples of AI and human work, as well as known typical patterns and distinctive features.
• Result estimation. After a thorough analysis, the tool typically provides a percentage-based result representing the likelihood of AI content present in the text.

In order to handle this process and provide accurate results, content detectors feature a range of technologies, such as:

• Machine learning; 
• Natural language processing;
• Deep learning;
• Computer vision;
• Heuristic rules;
• Ensemble methods.

What Do AI Detectors Look for in Content?

When analyzing your content for artificial intelligence, checker software considers a wide variety of factors. The main things that such tools are looking for include:

• Writing style. The overall writing style consists of many small details, such as word choice, syntax, punctuation, tone of voice, and others. Checkers are trained to see stylistic patterns typical of humans and AI.
• Common words and phrases. Overuse of common language structures, such as transition phrases, adjectives, and cliché expressions, is often seen as non-human work.
• Repetitions. Frequent use of identical or similar words and sentence constructions is often seen as a sign of artificial intelligence.
• Lack of depth. Machine-written content often lacks emotional background and connection with the audience. It is also usually more generic and lacks contextual depth.
• Factual errors. Incorrect statistics and outdated or made-up facts can also signal the use of AI.
• Inconsistency. Checkers analyze content for consistency in ideas, tone of voice, and writing style. Inconsistencies might be a sign of artificial intelligence.
• Naturalness of language. Human-written text flows naturally and is typically easy to read, whereas AI content can contain awkward and vague constructions that make the text sound robotic.
• Perplexity and burstiness. Finally, checkers typically assess how predictable content is. Human-written texts usually follow less predictable sentence structures and word variations and imply variations of sentence length.

How Is AI Detected in Essays?

If we are talking about academic writing, in particular, currently, most schools and universities have strict policies against the use of AI in essays and other types of homework. Artificial intelligence is thought to undermine academic integrity and, thus, is considered to be as unacceptable as plagiarism. 

Respectively, if teachers detect traces of AI in your writing, it can result in:

• Accusation of plagiarism;
• Lower grade;
• Hindered student reputation;
• Severe penalties, including expulsion.

How do teachers detect AI in essays, you may wonder? First of all, educators already have an eye for typical AI patterns. They look for unnatural sentences, repetitions, generic content, and other signs of artificial intelligence when reviewing students’ work. 

Recent surveys also show that the majority of teachers (68%) have already adopted AI detection software to help them detect it in academic essays. This is a significantly higher number compared to the previous year, and we believe that more and more teachers will start using such tools in the future.

So, how do you ensure that your essays pass your teacher’s check? The most reliable solution is to start using AI checkers yourself. Find a reliable tool that you can use for analyzing your essays before submission and ensuring that they meet your school’s standards.

How Accurate Are AI Detectors?

When you start looking for a reliable AI checker, the first thing you will likely consider is the accuracy of detection. However, when you look at some popular options, like Copyleaks, ZeroGPT, and others, each of them will claim to be the most advanced one and have 99% accuracy. But is this actually true?

The first and primary thing you need to know about AI detection accuracy is that artificial intelligence is constantly learning. That is, tools powered by it evolve at a rapid pace, making it harder for detectors to determine the percentage of AI-generated text with precision.

A 2023 study published in the International Journal for Educational Integrity attempted to assess the efficacy of such software in distinguishing human content from AI-generated text. The study revealed that AI content was detected correctly quite often. 

Yet, there were instances when tools provided false-negative or uncertain results depending on the model of AI used to generate a particular piece of text. 

The same is true for human content. In some instances, tools had human writing detected as 98% or 92% AI-generated.

These study findings confirm that AI checkers still lack accuracy and require a combined approach to identify AI-generated content with more precision.

How Effective Are AI Detectors: Evaluating the Most Popular Tools

So, do AI detectors work? As you now know, they do work and often handle their tasks well. Nevertheless, their accuracy can fluctuate depending on a variety of factors, primarily, on the specific detector tool that you use.

Given the growing adoption of artificial intelligence models, of course, the number of detection software is also rather extensive. Finding a tool that you can rely on isn’t easy. It doesn’t matter what your purpose is, to make the right choice, it’s recommended to consider a range of factors:

• Precision;
• Features;
• User reviews;
• Pricing.

While some of these criteria, such as pricing and features, are individual and should be assessed based on your preferences, there is one crucial characteristic that might be the hardest to evaluate – precision.

To help you make this decision, we analyzed the top three popular tools for accuracy and reliability. Let’s see what each of them got.

Copyleaks AI Content Detector

According to the official website, Copyleaks is an award-winning tool with unparalleled accuracy of more than 99%. A 0.2% false positive or negative result is an industry-low indicator, which makes Copyleaks a popular choice for different purposes.

Other benefits of this tool include the support of a broad range of languages, detection of content generated by all popular AI models, and the availability of a free version (with a limited number of daily scans). 

Also, there is a paid option that offers additional features, such as suggestions for improving your writing and avoiding AI.

To test this tool, we generated a 300-word essay using ChatGPT. Copyleaks marked this essay as 100% AI-written, which confirms its ability to accurately distinguish AI from human content.

Turnitin AI Detection

Turnitin is broadly considered the most popular plagiarism checker used by students and teachers, mainly thanks to its high accuracy. Having a certain reputation in the academic world, Turnitin, unsurprisingly, launched an AI detector as well to help uphold academic integrity.

So, how well does Turnitin detect AI? One of the biggest benefits of this tool is that it’s tailored specifically for academic purposes. Thus, if you are a teacher or student, it can be a good choice. It also boasts a fairly high accuracy level, though not flawless.

According to an evaluation by Temple University, Turnitin correctly detected 23 out of 30 samples of AI texts as at least 77% generated. In our independent test, the tool easily handled the task and marked an essay as 100% AI-generated.

GPTZero Detection

GPTZero is also considered a reliable solution. According to its website, this tool boasts 99% accuracy, over 8 million users, and 3,000+ academic facilities that have already adopted it.

This software is designed to detect the signs of all top models used in content, such as ChatGPT, Llama, etc. It’s also compatible with a range of third-party tools, such as Google Classroom, Canvas, and others, which also makes it suitable for educators and students. And there is also an AI tutor that provides handy insights for improving your content.

When we tested GPTZero, the tool also detected 100% AI in our generated essay. The tool has proven that it can understand it when you use even the best AI essay writer.

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