Turnitin Unveils AI Paraphrasing Detection Feature to Enhance Academic Integrity

Bengaluru– July 19, 2024 – Today, Turnitin, a leading provider of technology solutions in academic integrity, announced its AI paraphrasing detection feature. Integrated within Turnitin’s AI writing capabilities, the feature helps educators and publishers identify when AI paraphrasing tools may have been used to modify AI-generated text to avoid detection.

With the proliferation of generative AI tools, ensuring original critical thinking in education and research writing has become increasingly challenging. Writers, including students and researchers, may use AI paraphrasing to modify AI-generated text created by large language models, leading educators and publishers to believe that the work is original. A recent study conducted by Tyton Partners found that students continue to lead educators and administrators in their use of generative AI tools. Fifty-nine percent of students are regular users, monthly or more, compared to approximately 40 percent of educators and administrators. 

Turnitin’s AI paraphrasing detection feature helps address this issue by identifying instances where AI paraphrasing may have been used to modify AI-generated text. The AI paraphrasing detection feature enables educators and researchers to initiate constructive conversations with writers about the importance of ethical writing practices and proper paraphrasing techniques.

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“AI has incredible potential to benefit education but writers need to be transparent in how they use Generative AI,” said Annie Chechitelli, chief product officer, Turnitin. “Applying AI paraphrasing to AI-generated content is likely a sign that the writer is trying to hide their use of AI, which is the opposite of transparency. Turnitin provides the tools and insights to preserve the value of original work.”

In early 2023, Turnitin launched its AI writing detector and report, leveraging over 25 years of experience in understanding and safeguarding academic writing. Of the over 200 million papers reviewed  since the launch, Turnitin data shows:

• Over 22 million papers (approximately 11 percent of over 200 million) have at least 20 percent AI writing present
• Over six million papers (approximately 3 percent of over 200 million) have at least 80 percent AI writing present

Turnitin’s AI writing detection is part of Turnitin Originality, providing users with a seamless experience. iThenticate users can access it by licensing AI writing capabilities separately. When AI writing detection is enabled, including AI paraphrasing detection, it automatically checks each submission for both AI writing and AI paraphrasing. Turnitin’s AI paraphrasing detection feature highlights where within the submission a text spinner was likely applied to AI writing, giving insights into how the writing was constructed. It shows an overall percentage of the document that was likely AI-generated, including both a breakdown percentage of text that was likely AI-generated and text that was likely AI-generated and may have also been AI paraphrased. 

Since its launch, Turnitin’s AI writing detection feature has supported academic integrity in an ever-changing educational landscape. It has been recognized by the 2024 Bett Awards in the “AI in education” category and named Best in Show by Tech & Learning at ISTE 2023.

To learn more about today’s announcement, please read, “AI Paraphrasing Detection: Strengthening the Integrity of Academic Writing.”

Turnitin was a partner in providing compensation for, “Time for Class 2024: Unlocking Access to Effective Digital Teaching and Learning.”

As of March 21, 2024.

Turnitin is a global company dedicated to ensuring the integrity of education and meaningfully improving learning outcomes. For more than 25 years, Turnitin has partnered with educational institutions to promote honesty, consistency, and fairness across all subject areas and assessment types. Turnitin products are used by educational institutions and certification and licensing programs to uphold integrity and increase learning performance, and by students and professionals to do their best, original work.

Over 17,000 academic institutions and research organizations in 185 countries use Turnitin services: Gradescope by Turnitin, iThenticate, Turnitin Feedback Studio, Turnitin Originality, Turnitin Similarity, ExamSoft by Turnitin, ProctorExam and Ouriginal.