Turnitin AI Detection

Turnitin now includes AI detection capabilities. However, you will not see the AI detection score in Canvas. Once you open the Turnitin similarity report, you will see the AI detection score on the right.

The Turnitin interface also looks a bit different. On the right, you can click the icon that looks like a piece of paper to find the plagiarism similarity score as a percent. Below that you will see a blue icon that says AI that will indicate the AI detection score in percent. These are separate scores and have separate reports. Clicking on either value will open the report for that item. Here are a few other things to keep in mind:

Turnitin’s AI writing detection model only highlights text that is highly likely to be AI-generated.
The percentage, generated by Turnitin’s AI writing detection model, is different and independent from the plagiarism similarity score.
AI writing highlights are not visible in the Similarity Report. You must click on the AI icon to access the AI report with highlighted sections.
Students cannot see the AI detection percentage or access the AI report.

You can learn more about the AI writing indicator here:

Turnitin AI Writing Indicator Capabilities

The icons in Turnitin for AI detection.

If there is an AI score, does that mean my student used AI to write that portion of their paper?

Not necessarily. Like with the plagiarism checker, you should review the report. You will not be able to directly check the text against a specific source as you can with a plagiarism concern, but you can consider whether the writing is in the student’s voice, contains information the student is unlikely to know, uses language unlikely to be used by an undergraduate student, cites sources that do not make sense for your course, etc. The UCBA ChatGPT & Student Learning page in the Learning+ Teaching Center section of Bearcats Landing has additional items to consider when identifying text that has been AI/machine-generated.

Identifying Misuse

Do my students know that Turnitin is checking for use of AI technology?

Probably not. The AI checker was added to Turnitin on April 4th, 2023. We would encourage you to mention it to your students if you have upcoming submissions that will run through Turnitin. For Summer courses, you may want to add a specific statement about machine-generated text to the academic integrity potion of your syllabus.

Is using AI/machine-generated content academic misconduct under university policy?

Yes. The definition of cheating in the Student Code of Conduct includes these statements:

“(i) Use or possession of unauthorized material or technological devices.”
“(ii) Obtaining unauthorized assistance or accessing, reviewing, or obtaining answers from another person or source.”
“(v) Representing academic work by another person as one’s own.”

AI/machine-generated content should be covered in each of these points. You can read the entire definition in the Student Code of Conduct, Section B: Academic Misconduct, item 3: Academic Misconduct Definitions, point B: Cheating, on pages 9-10.

UC Student Code of Conduct (see Cheating on pages 9-10)

What do I do if a student has included AI/machine-generated material in a paper?

You should follow the standard process for academic misconduct. You could consider using an educational conference to help educate the student on AI technology and its use in courses. If you ever have questions or unsure of what to do, contact our College Conduct Administrator, Assistant Dean Temesha Corbin at corbinta@ucmail.uc.edu.

Syllabus Resources

Looking for text you can include in your syllabus? Consider these options and/or take a look at the following resources:

"Submitting work containing any content generated by artificial intelligence (AI) when not explicitly directed to do so by the instructor will be considered an act of academic dishonesty." (from Old Dominion University)
"Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to produce or help content, when an assignment does not explicitly call or allow for it without proper attribution or authorization, is plagiarism." (from Montclair State University)
Other resources:
- University of Delaware's Center for Teaching & Assessment of Learning has four syllabus text suggestions based on whether AI is prohibited, needs instructor permission, or needs attribution.
- Additional classroom policies for AI generative tools are available in a Google Doc started by Lance Eaton, where faculty can add their syllabus text.