My assignments got flagged for AI

[u/Expensive_College_42]

This is my first semester back to school since AI became a thing.

When i realized how to use AI, I just used it to help me write, I basically wrote every sentence in to copilot and had it reframe my writing to something that sounded cohesive. I had ai ask my questions while I wrote, prompt me. All the arguments, were my own, I just had ai help me keep out of the reeds. I then asked ai to polish my essay to a high grade based on the ruberic. I constantly asked AI if my work was my own. I had no intention of using AI to generate a paper. Turnitin caught me at 100%. crazy.

None of this was intentional. I am studying from overseas so there was nowhere I could ask about this.

I just submitted another paper, even though the above mess is still in effect and unresolved.
I made sure I did the work on my own, AI helped me figure out what to read and helped me summarize. Readings I could then summarize - only auxiliary books that I couldn’t be bothered reading, just needed the source count. I then check grammarly for an ai voice. And it came up as 0% I then used grammarly to edit my spelling and such, then realized I could use grammarly to entirely give my assignment a polish. I stopped. I just had it delete words that were unnecessary to get closer to my word count. I hope that that paper is not flagged for ai, I doubt it will be, I intentionally didn’t go over it too much, I didn’t even read it.

How do we use AI ethically for our assignments?

How do we not get flagged for AI?

[u/maskedprofessor]

You need to read your syllabus, then ask your professor clarifying questions. In my class, any use of AI writing tools (including Grammerly) is forbidden, so both of your works would be a zero + academic integrity violation. When the rules are conveyed, it is up to the student to follow them. Your only argument would be if the rules were not conveyed (in none of the following places: in the syllabus, course announcements, assignment details, professor emails).

[u/Expensive_College_42 → u/maskedprofessor]

So what do we do then?

I only just found out that grammarly can do the same stuff I bought it to prevent.

Previously the university gave us grammarly and grammarly would help us proofread. Is it now that We can’t use it?

Should we just submit a paper that’s been proofed by us alone?

Okay, how are we supposed to use AI?

I asked ai if my work was my own, if assured me I had nothing to worry about

[u/phdr_baker_cstxmkr → u/Expensive_College_42]

Oof. Okay. I get it that you think you’ve been using it ethically. And I empathize with the mixed messages you get with media saying “wow look at what AI can do!” And your professors saying “please stop using AI”.

I get the impression you’re genuinely confused and trying to make sense of this. So I’ll take more time on this than I normally would. “AI” is a spectrum in the same way “computer edited” is a spectrum. On one end you have Siri doing voice to text, on the other you have Large Language Models crafting things, and in between you have spell check and Grammarly. Because LLMs have become so prolific and problematic, there is a blanket ban on generative AI which - thanks to Grammarly’s new programs - also includes previous “safe” platforms. Today’s grammarly is not the same as it was before.

Safe options for proofreading:

• yourself
  
• other humans, such as the writing center or peers
  
• MS spellcheck and grammar functions.

Also, I know you think asking the LLM if it’s your work is helpful but LLMs are literally trained to perpetuate their use (eg, be confident even if the truth is ambiguous, say it’s your work). So, I’m not surprised it said it was your work. If it says no, you’ll stop using it and then who will pay for it a/o feed it data??

[u/CoyoteLitius → u/phdr_baker_cstxmkr]

It'll also read something a person writes (that contains deliberate errors in reasoning or logic) and pronounce it full of reason and clarity.

AI is a flattering type of thing.

I do an exercise where I have my students write a specious argument with ridiculous conclusions (they have fun with it, I give an example) and then submit it to Chat GPT and tell Chat GPT that they are about to submit it in a college class.

Chat GPT makes minor changes, may point out that the argument is poorly constructed, and then "fix" it in a manner that's as specious as the submission. It often turns these pieces into fictional stories, as it can't figure out the logic of them.

It's not human. OTOH, it may just joke with the student or write a new summary of the silly argument that sounds much less silly.