Universities split on using tool to detect AI plagiarism

Australian universities are split on whether to adopt a new tool which claims to detect AI-generated plagiarism with a near-perfect success rate, citing concerns over out-of-date models and the minimal notice the sector was given to assess the issue, writes Caitlin Cassidy for The Guardian Australia.

Turnitin’s detection tool, launched this month, cites a 98% efficacy rate at picking up the “high probability” of AI. Of almost a dozen universities that responded to the Guardian Australia, the University of Melbourne, the University of New South Wales and Western Sydney University have adopted the tool and several were considering integrating it into their detection programmes.

But others said the Turnitin tool was rushed and raised concerns over its efficacy. Trish McCluskey, Deakin University associate professor in digital learning, said despite Turnitin’s alleged high efficiency rate, it hadn’t had the opportunity to test the claim prior to the public release of the tool. “Education providers … are also concerned the tool has been trained using out-of-date AI text generator models,” McCluskey said.
Full report on The Guardian Australia site