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 opted out of this feature as we fully reviewed it internally and vetted 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.
Access to Turnitin’s artificial intelligence writing detection tool in bCourses was available via an opt-in pilot from Fall 2023 through the start of the Spring 2025 semester. Based on the findings from the pilot, along with numerous publications and studies, UC Berkeley has opted out of the use of Turnitin's AI writing detection tool. Please contact academicintegrity@berkeley.edu 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