The implications of these false positives are significant, with students' academic careers and psychological well-being at risk. Some international students also face the threat of visa status issues due to accusations of academic misconduct. Despite these concerns, Turnitin maintains its claims of high accuracy, stating that its tool was trained on writing by English speakers in the U.S. and abroad, as well as multilingual students. However, the company is conducting its own research into the tool's accuracy with non-native English speakers' writing.
Key takeaways:
- AI detectors, like Turnitin, used to spot plagiarized text and AI-generated writing, have been found to flag writing by non-native English speakers as AI-generated more frequently, leading to concerns of bias.
- A study by Stanford computer scientists found that seven AI detectors flagged writing by non-native speakers as AI-generated 61 percent of the time, while almost never making such mistakes with native English speakers' writing.
- International students are particularly vulnerable to these false positives, as accusations of academic misconduct can lead to suspension, expulsion, and potential visa issues.
- Despite these concerns, Turnitin has doubled down on its claims of high accuracy, stating that its tool was trained on writing by English speakers in the U.S. and abroad as well as multilingual students.