Published on
2 June 2023
by
Jack Caulfield.
Revised on
11 August 2023.
AI detectors are tools designed to detect when a text was generated by an AI writing tool like ChatGPT. AI content may look convincingly human in some cases, but these tools aim to provide a way of checking for it. We’ve investigated just how accurate they really are.
To do so, we used a selection of testing texts including fully ChatGPT-generated texts, mixed AI-and-human texts, fully human texts, and texts modified by paraphrasing tools. We ran all these texts through 10 different AI detectors to see how accurately each tool labelled them.
Our research indicates that if you’re willing to pay, the most accurate AI detector available right now is Winston AI, which identified 84% of our texts correctly. If you don’t want to pay, Sapling is the best choice: it’s totally free and has 68% accuracy, the highest score among free tools.
Published on
23 May 2023
by
Jack Caulfield.
Revised on
25 September 2023.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is a hotly discussed topic right now – especially with the release of AI writing tools like ChatGPT. It’s a field that more and more people are interested in, but it involves a lot of terminology that can be intimidating to a non-expert.
To help you get to grips with various commonly used AI terms, we’ve prepared a glossary covering a wide variety of acronyms, technical language, and big names in the world of AI.
Check the table below for a quick definition of the term you’re interested in, and click on the term to navigate to a more in-depth explanation below.
Glossary of AI terms
Algorithm: A finite sequence of instructions followed by a computer system
Alignment: The extent to which an AI’s goals are in line with its creators’ goals
Published on
4 May 2023
by
Jack Caulfield.
Revised on
15 June 2023.
AI detectors (also called AI writing detectors or AI content detectors) are tools designed to detect when a text was partially or entirely generated by artificial intelligence (AI) tools such as ChatGPT.
AI detectors may be used to detect when a piece of writing is likely to have been generated by AI. This is useful, for example, to educators who want to check that their students are doing their own writing or moderators trying to remove fake product reviews and other spam content.
However, these tools are quite new and experimental, and they’re generally considered somewhat unreliable for now. Below, we explain how they work, how reliable they really are, and how they’re being used.
NoteUniversities and other institutions are still developing their stances on how ChatGPT and similar tools may be used. Always follow your institution’s guidelines over any suggestions you read online. Check out our guide to current university policies on AI writing for more information.
You may also be interested in our research into the best AI detectors.
Published on
1 May 2023
by
Jack Caulfield.
Revised on
15 June 2023.
ChatGPT is a chatbot powered by artificial intelligence (AI). It works like any chatbot: users type in text-based prompts, and it responds to them with its own text. What makes it unique is how fluent, extensive, and human-sounding its answers are, as well as the wide variety of topics it can discuss.
ChatGPT was developed by a company called OpenAI. It was released in November 2022. It’s currently free to use, although it was released as a “research preview”, so it may not be free forever.
It can be used for a wide variety of tasks, including writing, brainstorming, researching, coding, and feedbacking existing text. ChatGPT’s ability to quickly generate large amounts of convincing text has significant implications in a variety of areas, such as academia, business, politics, and the internet.
NoteUniversities and other institutions are still developing their stances on how ChatGPT and similar tools may be used. Always follow your institution’s guidelines over any suggestions you read online. Check out our guide to current university policies on AI writing for more information.
A plural noun is a noun that refers to more than one of something (as opposed to a singular noun, which refers to just one). Like singular nouns, they may refer to people, animals, things, concepts, or places.
Plural nouns are normally formed by adding -s to the singular noun (e.g., the singular “cat” becomes the plural “cats”). With certain nouns, you need to add or change some of the other letters. The rules are explained in the table below.
There are also some irregular plurals that don’t end in -s at all. The following section explains them.
How to form regular plural nouns
Word ending
How to form the plural
Examples
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Add s to form most plurals that don’t fall into the categories below and to form the plurals of names.
Published on
14 April 2023
by
Jack Caulfield.
Revised on
22 December 2023.
A preposition is a word such as “to”, “between”, “after”, or “for” that’s used to show the relationship between different elements in a sentence. They can express ideas related to time and location, as well as more abstract connections.
You may have been taught the rule that it’s wrong to end a sentence with a preposition, suggesting that it’s wrong to say, for example, “What are you preparing for?” and that you should say “For what are you preparing?” instead.
As you might guess from the fact that the “corrected” sentence reads much less naturally than the first, this “rule” is a superstition with no basis in reality. There is no problem with ending a sentence with a preposition, and it’s often better to do so than not.
Published on
13 April 2023
by
Jack Caulfield.
Revised on
27 November 2023.
An apostrophe followed by an “s” is used in English to create possessive nouns. For example, the noun dog becomes dog’s when you refer to something belonging to the dog, such as “the dog’s ball.”
With plural nouns ending in “s,” you add the apostrophe after “s” and do not add an additional “s.” For example, the plural noun parents becomes parents’ (not “parent’s” or “parents’s”) in a phrase like “my parents’ car.”
An apostrophe can also be used to indicate a contraction (shortening of a word or phrase). So an apostrophe “s” may instead be short for the word “is” or “has,” as in “it’s” (“it is” or “it has”). In this context, it doesn’t indicate possession.
Published on
4 April 2023
by
Jack Caulfield.
Revised on
3 October 2023.
A compound word (sometimes just called a compound) is a series of two or more words that collectively form a single word. There are three types of compound words, which differ in terms of how they are written:
An open compound word is written with spaces between the words (e.g., “secondary school”).
Comprise is a verb meaning “to be made up of”. Writing “comprised of” is a common mistake that confuses the meanings of comprise and compose (which means “to make up”).
It’s illogical to use “comprise” in the passive voice with the same meaning that it already expresses in the active voice – just like it wouldn’t make sense to write, for example, “is bought of” in place of “buys”.
The correct phrase is composed of. The phrase “is comprised of” can also be replaced with comprises, consists of, or is made up of. All of these are valid alternatives; “comprised of” is never correct.
Examples: Replacing “comprised of”
A healthy lifestyle is comprised of regular exercise and a nutritious diet.
A healthy lifestyle is composed of regular exercise and a nutritious diet.
A healthy lifestyle comprises regular exercise and a nutritious diet.
A healthy lifestyle consists of regular exercise and a nutritious diet.
A healthy lifestyle is made up of regular exercise and a nutritious diet.
