If you’ve ever tried ChatGPT for writing, you’ll notice that AI written text tends to be more predictable and generic.
Human writing can be more dynamic, with less predictable narration and a richer vocabulary. It’s also likely to have more typos than AI-written content. Human error, right?
If you’re an editor, professor, or content marketer, it’s crucial to vet the content you review.
So, how do you detect plagiarism and AI-generated content
The obvious way is to let plagiarism checkers and AI detection software tools do the work. However, especially for AI, there’s some common “AI-ish” sign to look out for, like:
1. Incorrect and outdated information
2. Lack of depth and personality
3. Lack of anecdotes or personal stories
4. Repetitive language
- Incorrect and Outdated Information
While at times generative AI may look and sound well-written and professional, it can also be misleading, irrelevant, or just plain wrong.
Since most bots are trained on limited data sets (in time, form, or source), they may not have access to the latest and most complete information.
- Lack of Depth and Personality
Real people also have stories, opinions, and perspectives. All of which inform how someone thinks and writes.
Because AI tools don’t really write but generate text based on patterns in their training data, they don’t “understand” what they’re writing about in the same way humans do. This results in very superficial and shallow responses, a lack of critical thinking, and deep topic analysis.
- Repetitive Language
Another common feature of AI is using the same words or phrases over and over again.
This may be the result of a specific keyword used in the prompt that an AI then repeats word for word. It can also lack context or just have limited and repetitive training information.
AI models are also designed to be cautious and neutral in general, which is why they may rely on more conservative language patterns, which can sometimes look repetitive.
While detecting AI-written content and plagiarism is becoming increasingly important in our digital age. AI tools like ChatGPT can be incredibly useful, they often lack the nuance, depth, and originality that characterize human-authored content.
However, it’s equally important to use plagiarism checkers and AI-detection tools as a backup, ensuring thorough content verification. Combining human judgment with technological assistance offers the best approach to maintaining content quality and authenticity in an era increasingly influenced by AI.