As AI-generated content continues to grow and develop with continuous innovation, so too are certain challenges to consider. One of these challenges is discerning AI content from human-written content, which has led to the rise of and demand for AI content detectors.
This blog, Senior Content Writing Specialist, Elizabeth Seigle, will include an overall evaluation of generative AI checkers, their effectiveness, and their real value in identifying AI content.
Our Expert’s Insights into AI Content Detectors
AI-generated content detection is important as people and businesses work to identify and separate human and AI voices. However, these tools are far from perfect and may not work as well as you’d hope, which is why you shouldn’t rely on these tools when checking your own or other content.
Action Item: If you intend on using AI-generated content in your marketing efforts, it’s best to use it responsibly. AI tools can help the people on your team produce stronger content, while AI content detectors could help gauge its effectiveness to a certain extent.
The Rising Prevalence of AI-Generated Marketing Content
In recent years, AI-generated content has taken off with rapid development and advancements. While it’s possible to trace AI research back to as early as the 1960s, generative AI has made tremendous strides since 2006. More recently, the introduction of platforms like ChatGPT and Google’s AI Overviews has thrust generative AI into the forefront.
Today, many people use AI content in different forms, whether implementing text-to-image, image-to-image, or large language model (LLM)-based solutions to generate content with ease.
However, with great innovation comes great responsibility, as people and companies grow more concerned about the prevalence of AI and its potentially negative impact on reputability and quality.
Here are a few interesting stats about generative AI and what it’s become:
- Earlier in 2024, one study found that 39.4% of American adults between 18 and 34 years of age reported the use of generative AI, with 28% of respondents reporting its use in the workplace.
- Millennials and Gen Z account for a whopping 65% of generative AI users, making it especially popular among younger generations.
- By the end of the year, experts project that the AI market will grow to $66 billion.
As the use of AI continues to increase, and innovations continually improve upon generative AI content, it’s also becoming increasingly difficult to differentiate this content from its human-produced counterpart.
Because of the remaining demand for high-quality human-generated content, and the need to distinguish it from AI content, we’ve also seen a rise in the use of generative AI checker tools.
What Are AI Content Detectors?
AI content detectors are software tools that can scan and analyze text content to determine whether an AI solution developed it. Using a machine learning or natural language processing AI detector, users can harness the power of AI to identify AI content.
After running content through a generative AI checker, the tool typically provides a comprehensive report detailing the likelihood that the content is AI-generated. Some use cases here could include scanning text to gauge its originality and detecting content for potential plagiarism from other existing sources.
The following are some more specific potential uses for these tools:
- In education: Professors, teachers, and other staff could run student content through an AI detector to determine whether a student was plagiarizing or otherwise cheating.
- In journalism and marketing: Journalists, marketing agencies, and clientele could identify plagiarized or AI content to determine its validity.
- In other applications: Others might also use these tools if a person or entity’s career or credibility is in question.
While these tools might be effective in some cases, there is debate as to just how reliable they are as they can provide inaccurate results. For example, students have contested AI checker results stating that their content was “100% AI-generated,” arguing that these tools have mistaken mostly human-generated content produced with limited assistance to come from ChatGPT.
At the same time, there is still a need for the ability to check for AI writing to facilitate the ethical and compliant adoption of this technology. The key is finding the right tools and properly assessing the results.
How Do AI Checkers Work?
So, how do AI checkers work, specifically?
Using machine learning and natural language processing, AI detectors assess text content by looking for certain patterns indicative of AI content, including stylistic or statistical anomalies like the repeated use of specific words/phrases or inconsistent writing styles.
They also work by training them on data models, including AI and human-written content, to help them separate the two.
It’s possible to use an AI detector with uploaded files or copy-pasted text in many cases, making it easy for people to instantly evaluate content as needed.
What do AI content detectors look for? Some key markers of AI content that detectors look for include:
- Repetitive terms and phrases
- Nonsensical sentences or clauses
- The overuse of formal or informal tones in writing
- A suspicious lack of emotional nuance or personalization
- Token distribution or other types of technical markers
Evaluating AI Content Detectors
Now that you have an answer to the question of how do AI checkers work, you’re likely wondering, “Do AI detectors work?” And if they do, are AI checkers accurate? Let’s look closer at the effectiveness of these tools to find out.
Do AI Detectors Work?
Like many other types of tools, AI content detectors work to a limited extent. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don’t. According to industry stats, the average accuracy rate of these tools is around 60%, with some of the better tools reaching as high as 84%.
With sufficient testing and training, these tools can effectively identify AI content and display the factors contributing to their assessment. On the other hand, they aren’t without their limitations—even if someone writes entirely human-produced content, certain stylistic choices or technical markers might result in a false positive.
Are AI Checkers Accurate?
The short answer to this question is, generally, no. They’re getting better over time as their training improves, but there have been many instances of false positives and negatives.
In fact, the company that developed ChatGPT, OpenAI, decommissioned its own AI detector tool within just six months of its introduction because of its insufficient accuracy.
Still, the overall accuracy of AI content detectors really depends on the tool and the context for its use. For instance, tools might have an easier time identifying AI-written SEO content that underwent little to no editing, while a student who’s careful about crafting their essay might get a false positive.
Why Are AI Detectors So Bad?
Some people might ask, “Why are AI detectors so bad?” Put simply, while many of them may work to a limited degree, there are some critical flaws that can render them ineffective.
The following are some of the main issues that keep generative AI checkers from doing their job well:
- Many of them rely on outdated algorithms
- The inability to adapt to ever-evolving AI writing styles
- Limited assessment capabilities
- A tendency to generate false positives
- Unintended biases toward certain writing styles, such as English as a Second Language (ESL) authors whose writing might come across as inconsistent or improper
To mitigate these potential risks, it’s best to look for a tool with a high accuracy rate and manually verify whether the content comes across as “suspicious.” You can also run content through multiple tools to further determine the likelihood it came from an AI tool.
Are AI Detectors Worth the Money?
In the end, you might be curious to know whether AI detectors are worth the money. There are certain free AI detector tools, but they’re often not the most reliable. Some of the premium tools out there are more likely to give you accurate results.
That being said, some free tools boast high accuracy and can be useful, especially if you run content on several free tools to help pin down AI content.
If AI content is of huge concern to you and can impact your bottom line, it might be in your best interest to invest in a premium tool. Premium checkers have more advanced features and tend to be more accurate, making them ultimately more reliable. Many free tools also have premium versions available.
Best AI Detectors in 2024
If you’re looking for the best AI detectors, there’s a variety of free and premium options you can use.
The following are some of the best free AI detector tools available today:
- Sapling: You can use this free NLP-based AI content detector to identify AI content. According to techdictionary.io, it has an accuracy rate of 97%. It includes a grammar checker, autocomplete tool, and chat assist solution, among other features. In addition to the free version, there is a Pro version at $25/month and an Enterprise version.
- Scribbr: Another free tool is Scribbr, which can identify AI content from platforms like ChatGPT and Copilot. It also checks multiple language, including English, French, Spanish, and German, and it comes with many other tools, including an AI proofreader, paraphrasing tool, and citation generator.
- Merlin: Not only does this free checker help spot AI content, but it can also help to “humanize” AI content to assist with the editing of content. This platform also includes an essay writer, image generator, and other AI-related plugins. There’s also a Pro version at $29/month and a Teams version for $19/month.
If you’re looking for premium (or more free) tools, here are a few of the best AI detectors:
- Surfer: Free for up to 500 words, this is a highly accurate premium tool with an Enterprise version available. The premium version gets you unlimited AI detection and various other AI features, including a content audit tool, content editor, and an AI humanizer.
- QuillBot: Another option is QuillBot, which includes a free version of its AI detector along with a suite of other tools, from a paraphrase and grammar checker to a translator and summarizer. The premium edition of this tool costs $19.95/month for the monthly plan, $13.31/month for the quarterly plan, or $8.33/month for the annual plan.
- Turnitin: This tool is helpful for educators, researchers, and publishers to determine whether ChatGPT or content spinners helped produce essays or other types of papers or publications. It includes an originality checker, grading software, and a feedback studio. For pricing info, the website invites you to schedule a call.
How to Fix AI-Generated Text
Whether an AI content detector detects or fails to detect AI writing, there are some manual steps you can take to address any issues with content.
For example, if an AI checker doesn’t give you satisfactory results and you still suspect AI, you can check for:
- Inconsistencies in the tone of the writing
- Over-simplified phrasing
- The use of many repeated words or phrases
- Emotionally disconnected or otherwise incongruous writing that doesn’t match the subject
- A lack of original ideas
Meanwhile, if you want to improve AI-generated content and give it a more human voice, there are plenty of ways to do this as well. For instance, you could add in manual edits where appropriate, changing certain words or even entire paragraphs, adding some more creative elements to the content, or minimizing repetition.
As AI becomes more complex over time, so will the tools used to detect their content. Developers will continually improve upon detection capabilities, which will lead to more accurate results over time. However, just remember that no tool will be 100% accurate, and it helps to evaluate content with your own eyes before trusting the results of an automated assessment.
Even if you don’t use AI detectors on others’ content, you can use it on your own to determine how it reads. You might be surprised to find that a detector perceives your writing as AI-generated, even when it’s entirely original. This kind of feedback could help you figure out how to maximize your content’s authenticity.
Optimize for Generative AI the Right Way With Ignite Visibility
To succeed with content marketing or optimizing for generative AI engines, consider working with the experts at Ignite Visibility. Our team is here to give you the support you need with solutions that work for you.
Our services can help you:
- Consistently produce high-quality content
- Help you avoid the unethical use of AI
- Optimize content to appeal to generative engines like Google AI Overviews
- And much more!
If you like this idea and want to get started, contact our experts today and discover what we can do for you.
