MOBILE, Ala. (WPMI) — Mobile County Public Schools is using artificial intelligence to catch students using AI to plagiarize. This week, the school board approved a contract with Turnitin to use its AI writing detection capabilities to catch students using ChatGPT and other AI writing tools to do their work.
“We’re trying to make sure that they have the skills that they need to be successful beyond high school. If you can’t write in high school, you’re not going to be able to write and perform all the academic requirements in college,” said board president Dr. Reginald Crenshaw.
According to a spokesperson for Turnitin, the company launched its AI writing detector in early 2023. As of March 21, 2024, the company found that 11% of more than 200 million papers reviewed had at least 20% AI writing present. The company detected 3% that had at least 80% AI writing present. The spokesperson told us that new research found 59% of surveyed students reported using AI at least once a month.
“Technology has been so advanced now when you put in two or three words to write a whole paragraph for you, two or three words writing the whole paper. So we got to make sure that they’re getting the skills that’s needed rather than plagiarizing,” said Crenshaw.
The contract signed this week is to be used at Murphy High School, and it’s not to not to exceed $4,800. A spokesperson for Mobile County Public Schools says for several years now they have been using tools like this to catch plagiarism with kids copying from online sources.