On April 4, 2023, Turnitin released an artificial intelligence writing detection feature intended to identify text generated by chatbot/text generators, such as ChatGPT.
Turnitin’s artificial intelligence writing detection tool is not currently available to UC Berkeley instructors; campus leadership has opted out of this feature as we fully review it internally and vet it for privacy, security, and accessibility, as well as for general functionality.
UC Berkeley has opted out of enabling Turnitin’s artificial intelligence writing detection tool, along with several peer institutions, for a number of reasons:
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Student access: Unlike Turnitin's standard plagiarism detection features, which can be made visible to students to assist with properly citing material, AI writing detection information is currently only available to instructors.
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Unclear actionability: Turnitin’s standard plagiarism detection features enable instructors to point to a specific source; the AI detection tool provides no such conclusive proof, and it is unclear how these findings would or should be used in an academic integrity investigation.
We are currently offering access to Turnitin’s artificial intelligence writing detection tool in bCourses via an opt-in pilot. Due to the configuration of the pilot, opting in to use the AI detection tool has occasionally impacted functionality of Turnitin features in bCourses, as well as the inability for instructors to use custom bCourses tools made available by their department. Inclusion in the pilot is dependent on how the tool will impact instructor and student usage of bCourses, and is considered on a case-by-case basis. Please contact academicintegrity@berkeley.edu if you are interested in participating, or if you have any questions about this topic.
For information on pedagogical strategies that instructors can use to harness the power of generative AI to further their learning goals, see this resource from the Center for Teaching and Learning: Understanding AI Writing Tools and their Uses for Teaching and Learning at UC Berkeley