The record

Where automated decisions went wrong

Incidents gathered from public reporting around the world. Each one links to the articles it came from. None of it is a finding that anyone broke the law.

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4 incidents matching “Turnitin” · public reporting

WF-GF77UM31 Mar 2023

Turnitin's AI Detector Falsely Flags Student's Essay as AI-Generated

A Washington Post test of Turnitin's new AI writing detector found it erroneously flagged 8% of a high school student's original essay as likely generated by ChatGPT. The student, Lucy Goetz, had not used AI, raising concerns about false accusations of cheating. Turnitin acknowledged the issue and added a caution flag, but educators worry about the potential for baseless academic-integrity investigations. The incident highlights the challenges of detecting AI-generated text and the need for careful human review.

Company involved
Turnitin
AI system involved
Turnitin AI writing detector

1 source article · read the reporting →

WF-5TENXX1 Aug 2023

Vanderbilt, Northwestern and University of Texas stop using Turnitin AI detector over false cheating accusations

Several US universities, including Vanderbilt, Northwestern and the University of Texas, have stopped using Turnitin's AI detection tool over concerns that it falsely marks student essays as written by ChatGPT. Vanderbilt estimated that the tool's 1% false-positive rate could have wrongly labelled about 750 of 75,000 papers submitted last year. A Texas professor came under fire for failing half his class after the software identified their essays as AI-generated. Turnitin said its technology is not meant to replace educators' professional discretion.

Company involved
Multiple universities (Vanderbilt University, Northwestern University, University of Texas)
AI system involved
Turnitin's AI detection tool

9 source articles · read the reporting →

WF-T470N61 Nov 2024ZH-CN

Student Overturns AI Cheating Accusation in Court, Three Others Lose

一名学生在法庭上推翻 AI 作弊指控,另外三人败诉 - Pasquale Pillitteri

New York's Nassau County Supreme Court vacated Adelphi University's disciplinary action against student Orion Newby, who had been accused of using AI, finding the university's conclusion lacked a reasonable basis and that it had ignored exculpatory evidence and his disability status. In three other recent cases, courts upheld decisions by schools or universities.

Company involved
Adelphi University
AI system involved
Turnitin

1 source article · read the reporting →

AI detector scores banned as evidence at Yale and Johns Hopkins, vendor conflict exposed - Pasquale Pillitteri

The system flagged student assignments as AI-generated, potentially leading to academic misconduct accusations.

Company involved
Yale University and Johns Hopkins University
AI system involved
Turnitin AI detector

1 source article · read the reporting →