Combatting Academic Dishonesty: OpenAI to Help Detect ChatGPT Text

ChatGPT has been the talk of the town in recent times as a very interactive chatbot powered by AI. Launched back in November 2022, it has caused quite a ruckus in the tech world.

Developed by OpenAI as a language model, it interacts with users as if it were having a conversation with them. It can answer follow-up questions, reject inappropriate questions and even admit mistakes!

But, as with many things AI, this has also raised a few eyebrows 🤨

OpenAI Aims To Detect ChatGPT Use

OpenAI is developing a software capable of detecting whether a particular piece of text was generated using ChatGPT or not.

Why now?: Well, this move comes in after the increasing nuisance of plagiarized and baseless content across many fields, such as education, journalism, and even research, with ChatGPT use being the main culprit.

Furthermore, in a recent move, New York City public schools have restricted access to ChatGPT on school networks and devices.

This was done by citing concerns relating to the “negative impacts on student learning” and “the safety and accuracy of the content” by ChatGPT.

You can see why this is a problem, which has left government agencies and even the likes of Google to scramble and devise preventive measures to deter the use of such bots.

So, what does this entail for ChatGPT?

A spokesperson from OpenAI responded to TechCrunch:

We made ChatGPT available as a research preview to learn from real-world use, which, we believe, is a critical part of developing and deploying capable, safe AI systems. We are constantly incorporating feedback and lessons learned.

We've always called for transparency around the use of AI-generated text. Our policies require that users be up-front with their audience when using our API and creative tools… We look forward to working with educators on useful solutions, and other ways to help teachers and students benefit from AI.

What now?: We can wait and watch. OpenAI has already begun working on it. But we don't know the exact details of when and how it will be made available.

Until that happens.

Educators will have a bit of a tough time dealing with ChatGPT-generated content, and no easy way to detect the use of it for plagiarism or, worse, creating ideas for things that do not exist.

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