AI in Education Newsletter

AI detectors are trash, ChatGPT 3.5 no longer requires login, plus an exciting announcement.

Author

Sophie Theodorou
April 08, 2024

Happy Monday!

Here’s everything you need to know about AI for teachers and students this week.

On the Menu Today:

  • AI Writing Detectors are 🗑️ 

  • ChatGPT no longer requires login info… what does this mean for teachers?

  • 3 Tools I’ve been loving

  • My favourite solar eclipse resource

  • Prompt tutorial for resolving conflict

  • Exciting Announcement

AI Writing Detectors are Trash. ✂️ 

It's clear-cut: AI detection programs just aren't cutting it. Fresh research confirms their unreliability, revealing that even elementary tricks can dismantle their accuracy. Essentially, if AI-generated content is being caught, it's likely because it wasn't crafty enough.

Educational bodies have long leaned on anti-plagiarism tools to combat copy-paste culture, so it was natural to expect something similar for AI-generated text. However, these tools aren't up to the task and might even do more harm than good—consider the student from UNG put on academic probation simply for using Grammarly.

We need to pivot from depending on flawed detectors to reevaluating our approach to academic integrity in this new AI-saturated era. The real conversation should be about evolving our assessments and understanding of integrity in light of AI's capabilities.

This study measured how well an AI writing detector can detect AI-generated text.

Six different tricks were used to try to fool the AI detector.

Here's how effective each trick was at making the AI detector less accurate:

  • Adding Spelling Errors: The detector's accuracy dropped by 27%.

  • Increasing Burstiness: Changing the writing style to be less uniform made the detector's accuracy fall by 24%.

  • Paraphrasing: Rewriting text in different words led to a 21% accuracy drop.

  • Decreasing Complexity: Simplifying the text reduced accuracy by 19%.

  • Writing as a Non-Native English Speaker (NNES): Mimicking the writing style of someone who's not fluent in English decreased accuracy by 12%.

  • Increasing Complexity: Making the text more complex, surprisingly, only reduced accuracy by 2%.

On average, these tricks made the AI detector about 17.5% less accurate at spotting AI-written text. Access the full study here.

ChatGPT 3.5 (free version) Major Update

OpenAI's update to ChatGPT-3.5 brings immediate chat access without an account, introducing both potential risks and benefits.

  • No login required for immediate access

  • Enhanced content guardrails, details unspecified

  • Some functionality tradeoffs: no saved chats or voice features

  • Conversations used for training, opt-out available

  • Greater global adoption and ease of experimentation

  • Increased risk for minors with unrestricted access

While the update may fuel global AI engagement and innovation, it raises significant concerns about the safety of unsupervised young users (GPT is not meant for children under 13)—paralleling issues once seen with social media.

3 AI Tools I’ve Been Loving 🛠️ 

  1. WhatAICanDoToday.com - this is a free site that is essentially an AI tool advisor. Basically, if you have a task you’d like to accomplish with AI such as content ideation, meal planning, job searching, etc. it will recommend an AI tool for that task. Video tutorial here.

  2. Gibbly.co - My favourite free site for creating gamified review assignments is now available in FRENCH! This one’s for you, French Immersion teachers 🇨🇦 🇫🇷 Keep an eye out for a tutorial on my TikTok and Instagram this coming week about new features!

  3. Microsoft Copilot: Does your school use Microsoft Suite like mine? Check out this guide on using Copilot for generating beautiful slides!

My Favourite Solar Eclipse Resource

I know, I know…. everyone is talking about the solar eclipse and your FYP is probably flooded with resources. I’ll keep it short and sweet: here is my favourite resource - a virtual solar eclipse simulator to actually illustrate what a solar eclipse is in a hands-on way, sprinkled with a little math. 😉 

Examine the geometry behind a solar eclipse with this simulation!

Prompt Tutorial to Help Resolve Class Conflicts… 🙅 

Conflict Resolution Role-Play Prompt

You are an expert educator, with expertise in social and emotional learning and the CASEL framework skilled in helping your students learn to navigate conflict. Your task is to create [NUMBER] detailed role-playing scenarios for my [GRADE LEVEL] students to help them practice [DESCRIBE DIFFICULT SITUATION]. Include guidance on facilitating the role play and include a reflection question for students to engage with after completing the activity.

Exciting Announcement!

I will be running a FREE, LIVE WEBINAR on Sunday, April 14 at 10AM CST!

It will only be 30 minutes, and I will be running through my favourite, 100% FREE AI tools for grading and assessment.

Be prepared to walk away with info you can apply in your classroom the next day. No fluff. If you’re here, you already know what AI is.

Sign up here to attend. No worries if you can’t make it, I will be sure to send you a recording or just the slides afterwards! 💯 

That’s it for this week. From the bottom of my heart, thank you for reading & supporting teach2ai!

~Sophie