There has been a lot of concern about students using ChatGPT and similar AI tools to essentially complete their schoolwork automatically (Note: I don't encourage anyone to cheat). However, it turns out that there are tools that detect AI-generated text, and it's very likely that teachers and professors are going to be using them on all student work going forward. The main AI detector that I've seen discussed is https://huggingface.co/openai-detector/, and it is extremely good at detecting ChatGPT's work. As an experiment, I generated an essay using the prompt:

> Write an essay on any topic in the style of a college student.

The response:

> In the 21st century, social media has become a ubiquitous presence in the lives of people around the world. It has changed the way we communicate, the way we access information, and even the way we form and maintain relationships. While social media has brought many benefits, it has also had a number of negative impacts on modern society. > > One of the most significant effects of social media is the way it has transformed the way we communicate. In the past, people had to rely on phone calls, letters, or face-to-face conversations to stay in touch with friends and family. Today, social media allows us to connect with people instantly and from anywhere in the world. We can send messages, share photos and videos, and even hold virtual meetings all with the click of a button. > > However, this constant connectivity has also led to a decline in face-to-face communication skills. Many people are so accustomed to communicating through screens that they struggle to have in-person conversations or express their emotions through body language. This has led to a rise in social anxiety and a decline in emotional intelligence. > > Another impact of social media is the way it has changed the way we access and consume information. In the past, people had to rely on traditional media sources like newspapers, television, and radio to stay informed. Today, social media allows us to access a virtually limitless amount of information at any time. However, this has also led to the proliferation of fake news and misinformation. It is now easier than ever for people to spread false or misleading information, which can have serious consequences. > > Finally, social media has also had a major impact on the way we form and maintain relationships. In the past, people had to put in effort to stay in touch with friends and family. Today, social media allows us to stay connected with a large network of people without ever having to leave the comfort of our own homes. However, this constant virtual connection can also lead to a decrease in genuine human interaction and a rise in virtual relationships. > > In conclusion, social media has had a significant impact on modern society. While it has brought many benefits, it has also had a number of negative effects on the way we communicate, access information, and form and maintain relationships. It is important that we continue to critically evaluate the role of social media in our lives and strive to find a balance between virtual and in-person connections.

This is pretty good work. Unfortunately, the AI detector flags it as having a 99.98% chance of being AI generated! You are most likely getting a zero if you hand this in.

But it turns out that there's a relatively easy method to bypass this tool: https://quillbot.com/ is a website that lets you paraphrase text, and doesn't even require an account. The trick is to run your essay through it multiple times; after 4-5 paraphrases, all of ChatGPT's words have been changed completely beyond recognition. Here's the result:

> In the twenty-first century, social media has a significant impact on how individuals conduct their lives. It has changed how we communicate with one another, learn, and even establish and maintain relationships. Undoubtedly, social media has numerous benefits, but it has also had some negative impacts on modern culture. > > One of social media's most significant side effects is how it has altered the way we interact. In the past, calling, writing, or paying a visit in person were the only ways to communicate with friends and family. We can now instantly connect with people anywhere in the world thanks to social media. We may communicate with one another, share photos and videos, and even organise online get-togethers by just pressing a button. > > A loss of social communication abilities is a consequence of this frequent contact. Many people find it difficult to communicate in person or through body language since they are so accustomed to interacting online. As a result, social anxiety has increased and emotional intelligence has decreased. > > Our techniques of acquiring and consuming information have altered as a result of social media. Traditional media outlets like newspapers, television, and radio had to be used in the past to stay informed. Social media has made it possible for us to instantaneously access a seemingly limitless amount of knowledge. But as a result, there are now more instances of false information and fake news. More quickly than before, people could disseminate incorrect or inaccurate information, which could have negative outcomes. > > Not to mention, social media has had a significant influence on how we establish and retain friendships. Contacting friends and relatives in the past required work. Social media enables us to communicate with a variety of individuals without ever leaving the comfort of our homes. Continuous internet use, however, can encourage more virtual interaction rather than face-to-face interaction. > > Finally, social media has a significant influence on contemporary culture. Because of the positive and negative effects, our ways of communicating, learning, and establishing and keeping relationships have all altered. If we want to maintain a healthy balance between online and offline contacts, we must continually assess how social media impacts our lives.

Now, https://huggingface.co/openai-detector/ thinks that this has a 99.97% chance of being "real". However, the essay has clearly gotten a lot worse: all of ChatGPT's clean writing is gone, having been turned into a heap of synonyms and awkward rephrasings. Essentially, we've gone from a solid B to barely scraping by with a C.

So, what should we be taking away from these results? The main thing to understand is that English assignments are not obsolete—any student trying to pass off ChatGPT's work will be easily caught, and I'm sure that institutions will be designing harsh concequences for this sort of thing.

Therefore, I believe that the main usecase for ChatGPT for students is to create a rough draft or an outline for their work. In this case, the paraphrased essay was pretty shoddy, but it would only take a few minutes to revise it and polish it up into something decent. Using any of ChatGPT's work directly, even if you plan to revise it, is likely to become very risky as AI-detection tools improve further.

So, what are your thoughts on AI text detection? Do you think that future iterations of GPT are going to be so good that it will be impossible to distinguish their work from that created by a professional writer? Or will we be seeing an arms race between teachers and students?