The authors also conducted plagiarism checks on parts of writing contributed by ChatGPT, revealing instances of direct, paraphrasing, and source-based plagiarism. They discuss the potential biases in ChatGPT's outputs, as the model does safeassign detect chatgpt not differentiate between sources based on the level of evidence and can be manipulated through user voting. The authors recommend against using ChatGPT in academia, and if its use is unavoidable, they suggest acknowledging the bot without granting authorship and paying attention to potential plagiarism and biases. The authors used ChatGPT to create an editorial addressing AI's impact on scientific writing and the role of reviewers and editors.
Academic institutions must educate students on responsible AI use to prevent misuse. Tech companies like OpenAI should design AI systems to deter exploitation. Collaborative efforts from all parties can maximize AI's benefits, prevent inappropriate use, and uphold academic integrity. ChatGPT generates original text by skillfully paraphrasing, generating sentences, and presenting them coherently. It can recycle and recreate existing data into unique outputs, evading SafeAssign's detection. In contrast, traditional plagiarism involves directly copying someone else's words and ideas.An article by Originality.ai suggests that, with ongoing advancements, future versions of plagiarism checkers might integrate AI detection capabilities to address this gap. Meanwhile, educators and professionals are encouraged to use multiple layers of verification and to focus on teaching the importance of originality and critical engagement with content. SafeAssign conducts its detection by scanning the text for exact matches and paraphrasing patterns against its database. It is highly effective in identifying content lifted from previously published sources, whether they are academic articles, web pages, or student papers. Developed by Blackboard, SafeAssign compares submitted assignments against a vast database of academic papers, articles, and internet sources to pinpoint similarities or matches. The simple answer is no, and the reasons lie in the core functionalities of both these tools.
A.I., particularly generative A.I., continues to develop at a rapid pace, presenting both ethical challenges and significant opportunities. Given A.I.’s rapid evolvement, we will continue to find ourselves in changing contexts for our academic work. It is very important that we continue to familiarize ourselves with these evolving A.I. Tools and how they can be used appropriately in our teaching, research, and business operations. Also, employers are expecting college graduates to have a basic understanding of these tools and will most likely be using A.I. Tools like ChatGPT produce varied outputs based on prompts, making detection more challenging.
Blackboard can identify ChatGPT, but it has to depend on SafeAssign support. However, AI often gives a similar response, if not identical unless we have two individuals ask it the same question at different times. So, teachers can also check content from ChatGPT by themselves to prevent cheating from students.
However, AI-generated text often deviates from typical copy-paste indicators. SafeAssign is a plagiarism detection tool owned by Blackboard, a popular LMS (learning management system) in many colleges and universities. Although it is an integral part of Blackboard, SafeAssign also works with the Canvas LMS and is used extensively by instructors as a part of the evaluation process. SafeAssign and other plagiarism tools are highly dependent upon how large and comprehensive their databases are. Although millions of academic essays and billions of web pages sounds like a lot, if AI generated content doesn’t match any of them, SafeAssign likely won’t flag it.
SafeAssign recognizes multiple attempts for an individual test as submitted by the same student for the same test. SafeAssign doesn't check the contents of the current attempt against content from previous submissions. You can enable the SafeAssign Originality Report any time, even after students have started their submissions, but submissions are only checked when SafeAssign is enabled. Submissions received before you enable the setting aren't checked with SafeAssign. Maintaining academic integrity is crucial for trust, fairness, and respect in academia. With AI transforming content creation, there are risks to academic integrity.
Instructors can also use SafeAssign beyond its plagiarism-checking features and use it for rubrics, grading, and commenting on each student’s work individually. Keep track of your sources - Use a tool like Zotero to keep track of your sources so that you’re not scrambling at the last minute to remember them all. Mix it up - Your assignment should be a combination of your own thoughts and analysis, backed up by reputable quotes and cited sources.
