To tell if something is written by AI, several indicators and methods can be used:
- AI Detection Tools: There are advanced AI content detectors, such as QuillBot, Copyleaks, GPTZero, Grammarly AI Detector, and Scribbr AI Detector. These tools analyze text patterns, predictability (perplexity), repetition, sentence length variation (burstiness), and structural signals to estimate the likelihood of AI authorship. They can provide probability scores and sentence-by-sentence feedback to identify AI-generated content.
- Writing Style and Content Clues:
- Repetition: AI tends to repeat phrases and ideas more than humans.
- Formulaic Structure: AI often uses common phrases and lacks variation in sentence structure.
- Generic or Overly Formal Tone: The tone might feel monotonous or overly polished.
- Odd or Nonsensical Sentences: Sometimes AI produces sentences that don't quite make sense.
- Lack of Deep Context or Nuance: AI may miss subtlety or specific contextual understanding.
- Excessive Use of Certain Words: Words like "crucial," "delve," "consequently," and others might appear frequently.
- Behavioral Clues: AI-generated text is often quickly produced, which contrasts with human writing that usually takes more time to compose thoughtfully. AI might also use placeholders like "Insert name here" when information is missing.
- Judgement and Experience: Manual review looking for abrupt changes in tone, lack of personalization, or formulaic content is important to complement AI detection tools.
In summary, the best approach combines using AI detection tools with manual inspection for repetition, formulaic structures, tone, and context to decide if a text is AI-generated. These methods are not foolproof but provide useful signals to identify AI writing with high accuracy.