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Tom's Guide
2 days ago
- Tom's Guide
I tested 5 apps that detect AI writing — here's the one that beat them all, and the one that missed the mark
On the one hand, AI tools like ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and DeepSeek are incredibly useful when it comes to writing emails, summarizing content, and detecting tone in our writing. It's hard to imagine life before late 2022, when most of us discovered that ChatGPT can do some of the legwork when it comes to writing content. Need a cover letter? You can write one in five seconds, complete with a greeting and a summary of your work the other hand, AI slop is all around us. Prose written by a chatbot has a few telltale signs, such as a lack of originality and vague details. In this war of words, though, the AI bots are improving. You can ask ChatGPT to rewrite content so that it sounds more original and can avoid detection by apps like GPTZero. The war rages on, a true cat and mouse don't really know who is winning the war. If you're a student, writing content for your job, or even composing an email for a family reunion this summer, detecting AI writing is far easier than you might think — which might give you pause. For example, most professors in college now know how to run an AI detection service on your assignments. One popular tool — called GPTZero — uses a probability index to detect whether AI was involved in a piece of all of the AI detection apps work the same, though. I found there was one superior tool and one that missed the mark. For my tests, I used a sample chapter from a book I'm writing — I loaded an entire chapter into the five AI detection apps below. I also had ChatGPT write a cover letter for a fictitious job. I asked the bot to use some flair and originality, and to try to avoid AI detection. Lastly, I asked ChatGPT to finish this article for me — essentially, a 50-50 split between me and AI (e.g., something I'd never actually do).Here's how each AI detection tool fared on the three tests, including the big winner. I've used GPTZero many times, in part because the free version lets you detect a small amount of text without signing up for a subscription. For this review, I used the full Premium version that costs $23.99 per month and can do basic and advanced scans. With the advanced scan, GPTZero splits a long section of text into pages and rates the AI probability for each section. GPTZero did flag quite a few paragraphs with a 1% AI probability and a few sentences with a 5% AI probability rating. Yet, overall, the service worked remarkably I tested the cover letter written by ChatGPT, GPTZero really shone the brightest of all the apps. The service reported that it was likely 100% AI-written. The only issue is that there were some false flags, even with that overall rating. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. GPTZero labeled a few sentences as human-generated. When I had GPTZero scan my article that was 50% human and 50% AI, the service flagged it as 58% human — the most accurate of the AI detection apps. is a comprehensive tool that provides detailed detection results. The service costs $12.95 per month for the Pro plan with 2,000 credits. In the sample text from my book, Originality. AI quickly labeled my text with 100% confidence that it was all human-written — the only app that returned that correct result. That is reassuring, although the service did question a few sentences as AI-written even if it gave me an overall 100% confidence the ChatGPT cover letter test, reported that it was 91% human. That's because I asked ChatGPT to try and avoid the AI detection apps and write with flair, but a little troubling. In my test where I asked ChatGPT to finish this article, I was quite shocked. flagged the entire article as original with 100% confidence, even though only the first half was human. (When I asked ChatGPT to finish the article, it churned out some generic content even though I asked the bot to match the article style.) It seems was fooled by that trick even though it's likely a common practice, especially with students. Grammarly is designed primarily to help you write without errors and to avoid plagiarism, but it also includes a robust AI detector. I would say it is too robust. The interface for Grammarly is confusing since it flags plagiarism and AI writing at the same time. The app flagged the chapter of my book, saying '7% of your text matches external sources' which felt like a slap in the face. Come on! First, it isn't true, and second, that's discouraging. The app also said it did not detect common AI patterns in the writing, so that was a relief. Still, I didn't like the false flags. Grammarly is also expensive, costing $30 per month if you pay trick, asking ChatGPT to write a cover letter to avoid detection, proved quite effective — Grammarly said: 'Your document doesn't match anything in our references or contain common AI text patterns.' That was entirely incorrect, since the text was 100% AI-generated. The same result occurred when I fed the article that was 50% me and 50% AI — it said it was all human. Winston AI is another powerful and full-featured app, similar to in many respects. Scanning the sample chapter of my book, Winston AI gave me a 96% human score, which is fair. Unfortunately, like Grammarly, the service flagged some sections with only a 50% probability of human writing. In the middle section, Winston AI labeled two entire paragraphs as 100% AI written, even though they weren't. I tested the Winston AI Essential plan, which costs $18 per month but does not detect plagiarism; it's $12 per month if you pay annually. As for the cover letter, Winston AI was all over it. The service flagged the text as 100% AI written, although it suggested the second half of the letter might have been human-generated (suggesting a 48% probability as human). Fortunately, Winston AI also flagged my article correctly, saying there was a 46% chance of it being human-generated. The app flagged a middle section that was all AI-written, but missed the closing section (which was AI). Monica was my least favorite AI detection tool, but that's mostly because the service has multiple purposes — AI detection is just one feature. The app actually outsourced detection to Copyleaks. GPTZero, and ZeroGPT. For the book chapter, Monica flagged my test as 99% human but didn't provide any other guidance as far as feedback on specific detected the cover letter as 100% AI-written. That's not a surprise since GPTZero reported the same result, and Monica uses that same app. Monica had some serious problems detecting my article which was 50% human and 50% AI-generated. The service decided it was 100% human-generated and didn't flag the second half, which was AI-written.
Daily Tribune
16-05-2025
- Science
- Daily Tribune
Sparking creativity in young students
Primary school students are now being taught how to carry out real-world research projects, and their work is screened for AI and plagiarism. Meanwhile, universities are required to set aside at least three per cent of their net income for academic research, under a national push to bring research into every level of Bahrain's education system. Education Minister, His Excellency Dr. Mohamed bin Mubarak Juma, outlined the ministry's approach in a written reply to a question by Shura Council member Dr Anwar Al Sada. Changes The response lays out changes beginning in early schooling and continuing through to university and postgraduate levels. In schools, pupils are being introduced to research through subjects like environmental science and entrepreneurship. They are expected to come up with ideas, look into them and share what they have found, often as part of their yearly assessments. Classrooms are being connected to digital platforms and fitted with libraries and labs to help students carry out experiments and small-scale projects. Practical research Programmes such as the UNESCO Associated Schools Network and the GLOBE environmental scheme have been brought in to get students involved in practical research. A separate scheme for gifted students, called The Al Mobtakeroon (Innovators), helps them tackle real-world problems using science, design and presentation skills. Universities now require most students to complete a research paper or project before graduating. Many take part in research contests, and some have seen their work published in academic journals. Courses Research methods are built into the courses, and students are urged to share their work beyond the classroom. Teaching staff are also being asked to do more. Trainee teachers complete research tied to school problems as part of their diploma. Those already in post take part in workshops and short courses on how to carry out and teach research. Income Universities must spend part of their income, no less than three per cent, on developing research. That includes books, labs, journal access, and support for staff to publish or attend conferences. Research efforts are tracked. Universities must report data on staff, research funding, published papers, patents and work with outside bodies. Schools use simple scoring guides to mark student projects for structure, content and use of sources. A panel of judges from local universities looks at work submitted by gifted pupils in national contests and gives feedback. Concerns about the misuse of AI have led to tougher checks. The Ministry uses tools such as GPTZero and Plagiarism Detector to scan written work. Sources Students are taught how to cite sources, avoid copying and use material fairly. Workshops cover copyright, cyber safety and how to licence original work. Universities must have their own rules on fair research. Master's degree topics must be cleared by the Higher Education Council before work begins. National archive Finished theses are stored in a national archive to stop others copying or reusing them without permission. Dr Al Sada asked how the Education Ministry was supporting research in schools and universities, what it was doing to help teachers, how it kept standards in place and how it tracked progress. The reply sets out a system that stretches from early school to postgraduate study, combining training with closer checks and firm expectations.
Boston Globe
09-04-2025
- Boston Globe
Students are using AI to write scholarship essays. Does it work?
'They felt a little bit sterile,' said Geiger, the cofounder and CEO of a company called Scholarships360, an online platform used by more than 300,000 students last year to find and apply for scholarships. Related : Advertisement Curious, Scholarships360 staffers deployed AI-detection software called GPTZero. It checked almost 1,000 essays submitted for one scholarship and determined that about 42 percent of them had likely been composed with the help of generative AI. With college acceptances beginning to roll in for high school seniors, and juniors starting to brainstorm the essays they'll submit with their applications in the fall, Geiger is concerned. When students use AI to help write their essays, he said, they are wasting a valuable opportunity. 'The essay is one of the few opportunities in the admissions process for a student to communicate directly with a scholarship committee or with an admissions reader,' Geiger said. 'That provides a really powerful opportunity to share who you are as a person, and I don't think that an AI tool is able to do that.' Advertisement Madelyn Ronk, a 20-year-old student at Penn State Beaver, said she never considered using ChatGPT to write the personal statement required for her transfer application from community college last year. A self-described Goody Two-shoes, she didn't want to get in trouble. But there was another reason: She didn't want to turn in the same essay as anyone else. 'I want to be unique. I feel like when people use AI constantly, it just gives the same answer to every single person,' said Ronk, who wrote her essay about volunteering for charitable organizations in her hometown. 'I would like my answer to be me. So I don't use AI.' Geiger said students' fears about submitting a generic essay are valid — they're less likely to get scholarships that way. But that doesn't mean they have to avoid generative AI altogether. Some companies offer services to help students use AI to improve their work, rather than to cheat — such as getting help writing an outline, using proper grammar or making points effectively. Generative AI can proofread an essay, and can even tell a student whether their teacher is likely to flag it as AI-assisted. Related : Packback, for example, is an online platform whose AI software can chat with students and give feedback as they are writing. The bot might flag grammatical errors or the use of passive voice or whether students are digressing from their point. Craig Booth, the company's chief technology officer, said the software is designed to introduce students to ethical uses of AI. A Advertisement Not all scholarship providers or colleges have policies on exactly how AI can or cannot be used in prospective student essays. For example, Tools like GPTZero aren't reliable 100 percent of the time. The Markup, a news outlet focused on technology, reported on a study that found Because detection software isn't always accurate, Geiger said, Scholarships360 doesn't base scholarship decisions on whether essays were flagged as being generated by AI. But, he said, many of the students whose essays were flagged weren't awarded a given scholarship because 'if your writing is being mistaken for AI,' whether you used the technology or not, for a scholarship or admissions essay, 'it's probably going to be missing the mark.' Jonah O'Hara, who serves as chair of the admissions practices committee at the National Association of College Admissions Counselors, said that using AI isn't 'inherently evil,' but colleges and scholarship providers need to be transparent about their expectations and students need to disclose when they're using it and for what. Advertisement O'Hara, who is director of college counseling at Rocky Hill Country Day School in Rhode Island, said that he has always discouraged students from using a thesaurus in writing college application essays, or using any words that aren't normal for them. 'If you don't use 'hegemony' and 'parsimonious' in text messages with your friends, then why would you use it in an essay to college? That's not you,' O'Hara said. 'If you love the way polysyllabic words roll off your tongue, then, of course, if it's your voice, then use it.' Generative AI is, functionally, the latest evolution of the thesaurus, and O'Hara wonders whether it has 'put a shelf life on the college essay.' There was a time when some professors offered self-scheduled, unproctored take-home exams, O'Hara recalled. Students had to sign an honor statement promising that everything they submitted was their own work. But the onus was on the professors to write cheat-proof exams. O'Hara said if the college essay is going to survive, he thinks this is the direction administrators will have to go. 'If we get to a point where colleges cannot confidently determine [its] authenticity,' he said, 'then they may abandon it entirely.' This story about was produced by , a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for the .
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- Yahoo
Rumor claims Musk donated $800K to help storm victims repair their homes. Here's what we know
A rumor Facebook users circulated in March and April 2025 claimed tech billionaire Elon Musk, an adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump, donated $800,000 to help storm victims repair their homes. Users shared and discussed this rumor as tornadoes and violent winds struck the Midwest and South in early April, while millions of people remained under severe weather advisories for potential record-setting rain and life-threatening flash floods. For example, on March 30, the manager of a popular Facebook profile named Sense posted (archived), in part, "Elon Musk Donates $800,000 to Help Residents Repair Homes After Storms, Supporting Community Recovery." The post featured a link leading to an article on a WordPress blog simply named, "My WordPress Blog." Other Facebook users also shared the same rumor with posts including links to the same article published on other websites. The image read, "Elon Musk Gifts $800,000 to Help Residents Repair Homes After Storms." (Sense/Facebook) However, we uncovered no evidence suggesting Musk — recently or in the past — donated the specific amount of $800,000 to storm victims. Searches of Musk's X feed, Bing, DuckDuckGo, Google and Yahoo produced no credible results helping to confirm the rumor. At the same time, Musk's companies and his foundation have made contributions to storm victims, as detailed later in this article. The in-question WordPress blog article displayed signs of being generated with an artificial-intelligence tool, according to scans with the AI-detection websites Copyleaks, GPTZero, QuillBot and Scribbr. Someone also created the above post's image with an AI tool. One of several signs of an AI-generated picture is extra fingers on a subject's hand; Musk's left hand displayed six fingers. The article featured no information about when or where Musk made the purported $800,000 donation, nor did the story's author specify the people who benefitted from the contribution. The owner or owners of the websites hosting the article, which displayed numerous ads earning them revenue, sought to seize on and validate the beliefs of conservative U.S. users. For example, the aforementioned Facebook account featured a page transparency tab identifying its manager as residing in North Macedonia — a country associated with disinformation efforts in the 2016 and 2020 U.S. presidential elections. Other Facebook posts promoted similar made-up rumors potentially featuring AI-generated elements, including for example "Elon Musk's $300M Stunner: Homes for the Needy!," "Elon Musk's Ultimate Generosity: $55 Million to Build Homes for the Poor!" and "Elon Musk's Secret Plan: $5 Billion to Build Homes for Hurricane Victims!" Representatives for SpaceX, Tesla and the White House did not yet respond to requests for comment about this matter, specifically asking whether Musk donated $800,000 to storm victims. A manager of the Sense Facebook profile did not answer questions about the purpose of their efforts. There are genuine stories of Musk's generosity to storm victims and other causes. On Oct. 7, 2024, the New Orleans-based nonprofit disaster recovery organization SBP reported receiving (archived) a $2.4 million grant from Musk's Musk Foundation to aid storm victims following Hurricane Helene. The genuine $2.4 million donation was triple the $800,000 figure from the made-up story. Following a volcanic eruption and tsunami in Tonga in January 2022, Musk's SpaceX, a company for which he serves as CEO, helped restore (archived) some of the island nation's internet services. Also, on Oct. 26, 2017, the World Economic Forum reported about Musk's efforts involving Tesla, where he also serves as CEO, contributing (archived) its Powerwall battery storage technology to bring electricity back to Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria in September 2017. Inside Philanthrophy (archived) published details of other Musk Foundation contributions, including $5 million to COVID-19 vaccine research and diagnostic tools, $50 million to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and $480,000 for water in Flint, Michigan. Even so, The New York Times reported in December 2024 that the foundation failed to meet a standard of donating at least 5% of its assets for three consecutive years. The Musk Foundation and SBP did not yet respond to requests for comment, in particular asking the foundation about its contributions to storm victims and asking SBP for more details about the $2.4 million grant. "About Us." SBP, "AI Content Detector." QuillBot, "AI Detector." Scribbr, "AI Detector & Content Checker | No Login Required." Copyleaks, Collins, Ben, and Brandy Zadrozny. "Troll Farms from North Macedonia and the Philippines Pushed Coronavirus Disinformation on Facebook." NBC News, 29 May 2020, Emery, David, and Jessica Lee. "4 Tips for Spotting AI-Generated Pics." Snopes, 16 Apr. 2023, Fahrenthold, David A., and Theodore Schleifer. "Musk's Foundation Gave Away Less Money Than Required in 2023." The New York Times, 12 Dec. 2024, Galeon, Dom. "Tesla Is Bringing Power Back to Puerto Rico's Hospitals." World Economic Forum (WEF), 26 Oct. 2017, GPTZero. Hughes, Heather C., and Israel Waismel-Manor. "The Macedonian Fake News Industry and the 2016 US Election." PS: Political Science & Politics, vol. 54, no. 1, Jan. 2021, pp. 19–23. Cambridge University Press, "Musk Foundation." "---." Inside Philanthropy, Perry, Nick, and David Rising. "Musk Helping Restore Tongan Internet; Virus Outbreak Growing." The Associated Press, 9 Feb. 2022, SBP. "Musk Foundation Donates $2.4 Million to Support SBP's Multi-State Hurricane Helene Recovery Efforts in the Wake of Epic Destruction." SBP, 7 Oct. 2024,
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- Yahoo
Rumor claims Musk donated $800K to help storm victims repair their homes. Here's what we know
A rumor Facebook users circulated in March and April 2025 claimed tech billionaire Elon Musk, an adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump, donated $800,000 to help storm victims repair their homes. Users shared and discussed this rumor as tornadoes and violent winds struck the Midwest and South in early April, while millions of people remained under severe weather advisories for potential record-setting rain and life-threatening flash floods. For example, on March 30, the manager of a popular Facebook profile named Sense posted (archived), in part, "Elon Musk Donates $800,000 to Help Residents Repair Homes After Storms, Supporting Community Recovery." The post featured a link leading to an article on a WordPress blog simply named, "My WordPress Blog." Other Facebook users also shared the same rumor with posts including links to the same article published on other websites. The image read, "Elon Musk Gifts $800,000 to Help Residents Repair Homes After Storms." (Sense/Facebook) However, we uncovered no evidence suggesting Musk — recently or in the past — donated the specific amount of $800,000 to storm victims. Searches of Musk's X feed, Bing, DuckDuckGo, Google and Yahoo produced no credible results helping to confirm the rumor. At the same time, Musk's companies and his foundation have made contributions to storm victims, as detailed later in this article. The in-question WordPress blog article displayed signs of being generated with an artificial-intelligence tool, according to scans with the AI-detection websites Copyleaks, GPTZero, QuillBot and Scribbr. Someone also created the above post's image with an AI tool. One of several signs of an AI-generated picture is extra fingers on a subject's hand; Musk's left hand displayed six fingers. The article featured no information about when or where Musk made the purported $800,000 donation, nor did the story's author specify the people who benefitted from the contribution. The owner or owners of the websites hosting the article, which displayed numerous ads earning them revenue, sought to seize on and validate the beliefs of conservative U.S. users. For example, the aforementioned Facebook account featured a page transparency tab identifying its manager as residing in North Macedonia — a country associated with disinformation efforts in the 2016 and 2020 U.S. presidential elections. Other Facebook posts promoted similar made-up rumors potentially featuring AI-generated elements, including for example "Elon Musk's $300M Stunner: Homes for the Needy!," "Elon Musk's Ultimate Generosity: $55 Million to Build Homes for the Poor!" and "Elon Musk's Secret Plan: $5 Billion to Build Homes for Hurricane Victims!" Representatives for SpaceX, Tesla and the White House did not yet respond to requests for comment about this matter, specifically asking whether Musk donated $800,000 to storm victims. A manager of the Sense Facebook profile did not answer questions about the purpose of their efforts. There are genuine stories of Musk's generosity to storm victims and other causes. On Oct. 7, 2024, the New Orleans-based nonprofit disaster recovery organization SBP reported receiving (archived) a $2.4 million grant from Musk's Musk Foundation to aid storm victims following Hurricane Helene. The genuine $2.4 million donation was triple the $800,000 figure from the made-up story. Following a volcanic eruption and tsunami in Tonga in January 2022, Musk's SpaceX, a company for which he serves as CEO, helped restore (archived) some of the island nation's internet services. Also, on Oct. 26, 2017, the World Economic Forum reported about Musk's efforts involving Tesla, where he also serves as CEO, contributing (archived) its Powerwall battery storage technology to bring electricity back to Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria in September 2017. Inside Philanthrophy (archived) published details of other Musk Foundation contributions, including $5 million to COVID-19 vaccine research and diagnostic tools, $50 million to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and $480,000 for water in Flint, Michigan. Even so, The New York Times reported in December 2024 that the foundation failed to meet a standard of donating at least 5% of its assets for three consecutive years. The Musk Foundation and SBP did not yet respond to requests for comment, in particular asking the foundation about its contributions to storm victims and asking SBP for more details about the $2.4 million grant. "About Us." SBP, "AI Content Detector." QuillBot, "AI Detector." Scribbr, "AI Detector & Content Checker | No Login Required." Copyleaks, Collins, Ben, and Brandy Zadrozny. "Troll Farms from North Macedonia and the Philippines Pushed Coronavirus Disinformation on Facebook." NBC News, 29 May 2020, Emery, David, and Jessica Lee. "4 Tips for Spotting AI-Generated Pics." Snopes, 16 Apr. 2023, Fahrenthold, David A., and Theodore Schleifer. "Musk's Foundation Gave Away Less Money Than Required in 2023." The New York Times, 12 Dec. 2024, Galeon, Dom. "Tesla Is Bringing Power Back to Puerto Rico's Hospitals." World Economic Forum (WEF), 26 Oct. 2017, GPTZero. Hughes, Heather C., and Israel Waismel-Manor. "The Macedonian Fake News Industry and the 2016 US Election." PS: Political Science & Politics, vol. 54, no. 1, Jan. 2021, pp. 19–23. Cambridge University Press, "Musk Foundation." "---." Inside Philanthropy, Perry, Nick, and David Rising. "Musk Helping Restore Tongan Internet; Virus Outbreak Growing." The Associated Press, 9 Feb. 2022, SBP. "Musk Foundation Donates $2.4 Million to Support SBP's Multi-State Hurricane Helene Recovery Efforts in the Wake of Epic Destruction." SBP, 7 Oct. 2024,
