AI Detection and Grammarly

Dean, Graduate Studies and Research
Jennifer_Douglas
1 yr ago
119replies

Hi everyone, We have faculty using the AI report and are appreciating that feature. An interesting question came up recently: the report showed 64% AI-generated text, but the student claimed he had only used Grammarly, which also helps to improve phrasing. Has anyone else experienced an AI report picking up on Grammarly, and is there a way of distinguishing between a "grammar help" tool and other generative AI?

Second, will the AI report be visible to students soon? Faculty assumed that students could see it, but the report is only visible to faculty in our LMS.

Thanks,

Jennifer Douglas, American Public University System

- ren_casey
- 4 mths ago
- Reported - view
Are students required to cite AI if they used Grammarly gen AI and asked it to "improve it"? This is an option on Grammarly now. The result is similar content-wise but often re-written for clarity and such. Will this get flagged on Turnitin or other plagiarism/AI detectors? I'm not sure what qualifies as plagiarism (assuming the student did not cite AI) in terms of using AI as an academic tool. Particularly I want to know if this is acceptable for the International Baccalaureate in writing portions of Arts exams. Is it acceptable if AI is cited for editing/paraphrasing? Is it not acceptable to use AI at all?

Please reply with your thoughts! I realize this is a tricky situation since AI is so new these days and we are all trying to adapt to these recent developments. Thanks!
- Turnitin Admin, University of Huddersfield, UK
  
  s_d_bentley
  
  4 mths ago
  
  Reported - view
  Hamza Proviotech I think that's a question that somebody from Turnitin would be better placed to comment on than me. I haven't seen any change in the reports since 7th December, but I know that false positives with the AI tool definitely happen, and as you say there is very little that you can present to the instructor as evidence that you did not use AI.
  
  At the University where I work we would expect the instructor to have some additional evidence to the Turnitin AI report before asking you for your side of the story.
- Customer Engagement Specialist, Turnitin
  
  Gill_Rowell
  
  4 mths ago
  
  Reported - view
  Hamza Proviotech I suggest you reach out to our support team, by emailing tiisupport@turnitin.com. Please include any specific paper IDs where this has been happening. Unfortunately they are extremely busy at this time of year, but they will endeavour to deal with your request as soon as they can.
- Rhonda_Snover
  
  1 mth ago
  
  Reported - view
  ren casey If I question if the student wrote it, I also have them share their Google Docs so I can see the version history. This will often show when a student copies and pastes or creates in a very short time window. Just another tool we are finding helpful.
- Senior Teaching & Learning Innovations Specialist
  
  Karen_Smith
  
  1 mth ago
  
  Reported - view
  Rhonda Snover Great strategy!
- CyberSecNB_Cyber_Securit
- 4 mths ago
- Reported - view
Hello Folks,

Has there been a definitive answer to the question of the AI checker falsely detecting Grammarly? Based on what I have read here, it may depend on the version, but some posts report basic free version being flagged by the AI checker.
- Emma_DukeWilliams
  
  4 mths ago
  
  Reported - view
  CyberSecNB Cyber Security
  I guess in part it depends on the way that Grammarly has been used. Has it been used by someone to adjust something that was created by AI in the first place, or has it been used to check someone's writing. [And, if it's just the latter, what if they used Draft Coach instead? Or Word's Grammar checker, which is getting ever better ... ]
  
  It would be useful to know how often Grammarly just for grammar checking has given a positive ( & what % did it think could have been AI generated?)
- Turnitin Admin, University of Huddersfield, UK
  
  s_d_bentley
  
  4 mths ago
  
  Reported - view
  CyberSecNB Cyber Security The "basic free version" includes Grammarly Go, which is ChatGPT in disguise, so you need to be very precise about which functionality the student has used.
- CyberSecNB_Cyber_Securit
  
  4 mths ago
  
  Reported - view
  Emma Duke-Williams Most students have reported that they write their assignment on their own and then paste it into Grammarly. They then accepts all recommendations and changes. That action seems to be the issue.
- zary
- 3 mths ago
- Reported - view
I am applying for a PhD and use Grammarly to redact my interdisciplinary and research experience. I get a 50 - 60% probability of machine-generated text. I was just preoccupied my application will be rejected because of this.
- zary
- 3 mths ago
- Reported - view
I want to highlight that I am using the paid version of Grammarly. I used content at scale and every time I tried to change my sentence I appeared more robotic.
- kouame_kouman
- 3 mths ago
- Reported - view
Hello everyone!

On numerous occasions, I have encountered a recurring issue with Turnitin's efficacy in detecting instances where students seemingly employed Generative Pre-trained Transformers, such as ANI or AGI, to generate their content. The platform fails to recognize these instances despite clear indications of potential plagiarism. It becomes evident that the sophistication of AI, especially in its generative capacities, poses a challenge to traditional plagiarism detection tools. The emergence of Artificial Narrow Intelligence (ANI), Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), and potential developments towards Artificial Superintelligence (ASI) underscore the need for a more robust and adaptable approach in addressing the evolving landscape of academic integrity.
- Senior Teaching & Learning Innovations Specialist
  
  Karen_Smith
  
  3 mths ago
  
  Reported - view
  KOUAME Take a look at the Turnitin help guides. Scroll down to the section titled "Scope of Detection." I think some of what you've alluded to is answered there.
  
  In addition, Turnitin's stance is the same with the AI detector as it is with the Similarity Score: this is the starting point for a conversation with students. I'd recommend reviewing some of the resources on our Academic Integrity in the Age of AI page.
- Rhonda_Snover
- 1 mth ago
- Reported - view
is it possible that students are using the AI feature now available on Grammarly? see article

https://www.forbes.com/sites/rashishrivastava/2023/03/09/grammarlys-generative-ai-feature-will-soon-be-able-to-write-interpret-and-edit-text/?sh=7ec4e72e6d7e
- Senior Teaching & Learning Innovations Specialist
  
  Karen_Smith
  
  1 mth ago
  
  Reported - view
  Rhonda Snover
  I'd say it's likely as some students are very tuned in to new developments of this type!
  
  Just as generative AI tools evolve, Turnitin's AI writing indicator is too!
- Turnitin Admin, University of Huddersfield, UK
- s_d_bentley
- 1 mth ago
- Reported - view
We have gone for a different take on this, having realised that our existing policy on the use of (human) proof readers wouldn't allow them to rewrite sections of a student's work, we have updated the policy to disallow using software (of any kind) to rewrite whole paragraphs. (Suggesting alternative short phrases and ways to restructure a sentence is acceptable, and there are limited exceptions for students using the software as an accommodation for a disability).

That should mean that disputes over whether something is AI generated or original work that Grammarly/Quillbot etc has improved doesn't arise, because using either to such an extent would be a breach.
- Emma_DukeWilliams
  
  1 mth ago
  
  Reported - view
  Steve Bentley Do you include guidance as to when a "short phrase" becomes "long" or even a "short paragraph"? I know that some staff & students would want specific examples (though they're often also those who want to know the "magic number" for a similarity report ...
- Turnitin Admin, University of Huddersfield, UK
  
  s_d_bentley
  
  1 mth ago
  
  Reported - view
  Emma Duke-Williams I don't think we define it absolutely, but we can rely on a dictionary definition that a phrase has to be shorter than a sentence.
- Carol_Bailey.1
  
  1 mth ago
  
  Reported - view
  Steve Bentley I've just Googled your proofreading policy and was interested to see what other searchers have been looking for
- Turnitin Admin, University of Huddersfield, UK
  
  s_d_bentley
  
  1 mth ago
  
  Reported - view
  Carol Bailey you would be surprised - some courses (eg Pharmacy) do expect students to wear smart attire for classes
- Mitra_Asmani
- 1 mth ago
- Reported - view
Hello All, I facing the same problem. Turnitin is claiming 46% AI use (one whole question), but he is claiming that he only used Grammarly, and he is the only one with this high of AI use. No one else in the class has used it.
- Hamza_Proviotech
  
  1 mth ago
  
  Reported - view
  Mitra Asmani Turnitin is lately doing it, and it has no answers over this issue. Students are getting frustrated over it from time to time. Most of them fail or need to be justified. It even detects your papers from 2012-13 as AI, what more can you expect? There's no stopping queue.
- Senior Teaching & Learning Innovations Specialist
  
  Karen_Smith
  
  1 mth ago
  
  Reported - view
  Mitra Asmani Hi! I am sharing the messaging in our FAQ document on this topic:
  
  7. If students use Grammarly for grammar checks, does Turnitin detect it and flag it as AI?
  
  No. Our detector is not tuned to target Grammarly-generated spelling, grammar, and punctuation modifications to content but rather, other AI content written by LLMs such as GPT-3.5. Based on initial tests we conducted on human-written documents with no AI-generated content in them, in most cases, changes made by Grammarly (free & premium) and/or other grammar-checking tools were not flagged as AI-written by our detector. Please note that this excludes GrammarlyGo, which is a generative AI writing tool and as such content produced using this tool will likely be flagged as AI-generated by our detector.
- Mitra_Asmani
  
  1 mth ago
  
  Reported - view
  Karen Smith Thanks so much. That makes sense. My student (only one student in the whole class) must have used GrammarlyGo. No one else's work was detected as 46% AI writing and I know that they are using grammarly, however this boy (only this boy) must have used GrammarlyGO.
- Senior Teaching & Learning Innovations Specialist
  
  Karen_Smith
  
  1 mth ago
  
  Reported - view
  Mitra Asmani Glad you found it helpful. As always, we recommend erring on the side of caution, so definitely talk to him about how/when the use of such a tool is acceptable.
- Turnitin Admin, University of Huddersfield, UK
  
  s_d_bentley
  
  1 mth ago
  
  Reported - view
  Karen Smith But with respect, your FAQ also says you have a 1% false positive rate, which I don't think anybody who has used the tool would believe.