The Use and Detection of AI-Based Tools in Higher Education

Artificial intelligence (AI) first made its entry into higher education in the form of paraphrasing tools. These tools were used to take passages that were copied from sources, and through various methods, disguised the original text to avoid academic integrity violations. At first, these tools were not very good and produced nearly incomprehensible output. However, through the use of generative artificial intelligence and natural language processing, the current engines supporting these tools have become better and more efficient at producing quality output. Recently, the artificial intelligence research company, OpenAI, developed a groundbreaking artificial intelligence engine to drive a conversational chat frontend application called ChatGPT. Backed by an expansive knowledge base that could rival any university library in volume, this AI-driven conversational application can produce well-written, seemingly academic, responses to questions. This paper examines text-based artificial intelligence tools that can be used for both ethical and unethical purposes and what simple methods can be used to recognize AI-generated output whose use may indicate plagiarism.