OpenAI launches new tool to deter cheating on its own platform – with mixed results

OpenAI, whose online chatbot ChatGPT made waves when it was debuted in December, announced this week that a commercial version of the service, called ChatGPT Plus, would soon be available to users in the United States. — Leon Neal/Getty Images/TNS

ChatGPT – an artificial intelligence tool that can write essays, poems and emails on any subject with the click of a cursor – sent shockwaves throughout the education world when it was introduced late last year. Now, its creators have built a new program that can help catch students who use the AI bot to cheat.

But instead of quelling teachers’ fears, the new detection tool has been somewhat of a letdown within the technology and education worlds. Created by San Francisco-based company OpenAI, the platform identifies AI-written text accurately only a quarter of the time – and gives a false positive for nearly 1 in 10 submissions. Even a different detection tool created by a Princeton college student works slightly better.