As students at BC High, we have all heard our teachers talking about AI, often mentioning that students should not use artificial intelligence. These teachers say that if the students do, say, write a paper using AI, the teachers will find out. While many talk about AI Detectors they have that can find AI use, few question if this is an ethical system.
Some have studied the bias these detectors have against non-native English speakers, and the results have been shocking. These studies have shown that AI detectors are easily tricked, impractical, and even biased against non-native English speakers. The Eagle is here today to examine these studies and talk about their possible implications at BC High.
The use of ChatGPT and other AI programs have boomed in the past year to unprecedented numbers. “Within a mere 2 months of its launch, ChatGPT amassed over 100 million monthly active users”, a Stanford journal stated. For reference, it took TikTok 9 months to do this and Facebook over 4 years!
Students use ChatGPT to write essays, solve math problems, and do many other types of homework, and teachers are fed up with it. New AI detectors, like GPT Zero, Copyleaks, and Scribbr were developed where one can copy and paste writing into the website, and the program tells the user whether or not it was written by AI.
This may sound like amazing news (if you’re a teacher), but studies have shown that these detectors show a negative bias against non-native English speakers. James Zou, a professor at Stanford, conducted a study examining if this claim has basis, and the results were shocking.
They gave the detectors 91 essays written by foreign speakers, and 88 native English speaking 8th graders essays, and the foreigner’s essays were flagged as AI Written the majority of the time. One detector even flagged 91% of them as AI written! This could lead to significant problems in the academic field, putting foreign English speakers at a disadvantage and increasing their likelihood of being flagged for cheating.
In a city like Boston, where 1 ⁄ 3 of residents were born outside of the country and more than 240,000 adults don’t speak fluent English, this broken system could further diminish opportunities to these adults. Furthermore, at a school like BC High with some foreign students and many whose first language is not English, these systems could put them at a disadvantage.