NEW AI in Turnitin
With the recent 15 Jul update to Turnitin, we have observed AI % skyrocket. In speaking with most many indicate they did not use any AI to "...I paraphrased..." Is the increased AI% trend in conjunction with the new update?
Are there any indications that the AI being identified is actually student work?
1 reply
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Thanks for your question, !
To clarify, the recent July 15 update to Turnitin did not include any changes to the AI detection model itself. The AI detection system has remained consistent, and our false positive rate continues to stay below 1% for documents with over 20% AI writing. So, the spike you're seeing is unlikely to be related to the platform update.
That said, the phrasing “…I paraphrased…” caught our attention.
It’s possible students are using AI tools to paraphrase or reword content, and this is an important nuance. When students rely on generative AI tools to paraphrase or rewrite, the output still often retains AI-generated patterns and signals, which our detector is designed to identify. Instructors may be unaware that certain tools now offer robust generative writing capabilities that go far beyond grammar checks, even completing full responses for students.
If you’re seeing consistent trends in your classroom and would like to discuss further, feel free to share examples here or open a support ticket, and we’d be happy to investigate with you.
Thanks again for raising this!
- Audrey & the Turnitin Team