AI recognize texts

Artificial intelligence is currently revolutionizing many areas of our lives - including text writing. With tools like ChatGPT and Mindverse , virtually anyone can create texts in a matter of seconds that at first glance appear to be written by humans. But how can readers tell if a text is really written by a human or if an AI is behind it? In this detailed blog post, I'll show you different ways to identify machine-generated texts.

Why is AI text recognition important in the first place?

Before we look at specific methods, let's briefly clarify why it makes sense to recognize AI texts as such. Here are the most important reasons:

• Authenticity: Texts with personality and individual style are more attractive to many readers than soulless machine texts. Disclosing that content is AI-generated is therefore also a question of transparency and trust between author and audience.
• Plagiarism: Some AI tools generate texts by aggregating content available on the Internet. The result can then contain plagiarism or copyright infringements. The identification as machine text is a first step to unmask such texts.
• Science: For many linguistic and psychological studies, it is relevant to know whether subjects read human or AI-generated texts. Reliable differentiation is therefore also essential from a scientific point of view.
• Didactics: In learning contexts, the origin of texts is relevant to make the learning process meaningful. It is therefore also important for teachers to be able to recognize AI texts.

After this overview of motivation, let's now look at concrete methods readers can use to track AI texts.

Methods for recognizing AI texts

There are several ways to identify machine-produced texts:

Text analysis: Certain linguistic features can give clues about an AI text. More on this later.

AI detectors: Special software can often reliably recognize AI texts.

Watermarking: Some AI providers add digital watermarks to the texts.

Metadata: The metadata of a text document may note whether AI was involved.

Disclosure: Reputable providers transparently disclose when they use AI tools.

Below we look at these methods in more detail.

Text analysis: Linguistic features of AI texts

In order to recognize for yourself whether a text has been written by a human or a machine, it is worthwhile to perform a precise linguistic analysis. Here are some typical characteristics of AI texts:

• Perfect grammar: AI texts rarely contain grammatical errors or typos that human-made texts often have.
• Limited vocabulary: The vocabulary used is often less varied than in humans. Fewer unusual words and synonyms occur.
• Lack of idiomatic expressions: Proverbs, idioms and colloquial phrases are usually not found in AI texts.
• Lack of coherence: Although individual sentences are grammatically correct, the overall text may seem disjointed and lack cohesion.
• Lack of creativity: AI texts are rarely truly original, witty, or humorous. They often come across as sterile and predictable.
• Simple sentence structure: Complex sentence structures with many subordinate clauses occur less frequently. AI sentences are often short and simple in structure.
• Repetitive phrasing: Often repeats the same phrases, turns of phrase, or sentence structures instead of varying linguistically.

Of course, humans can also write simple, repetitive texts with little creativity. But the simultaneous occurrence of several of the above features can be a clear indication of AI text.

AI detectors: software for recognizing machine texts

Meanwhile, there are also various software tools that automate the detection of AI texts. Here is an overview of common AI detectors:

• GPTZero: Free tool from a US university for recognizing texts from ChatGPT and similar AI systems.
• OpenAI Classifier: AI detector from OpenAI, works for texts from 1000 characters. (Discontinued due to poor performance)
• Originality: Browser plugin and API for recognizing AI texts with over 95% accuracy (according to the provider).
• Copyleaks: Plagiarism checker including AI text detection as a paid online service.
• Scribbr: Checks for plagiarism and machine texts. Offers free tests.
• Sapling: Free AI text check tool that works without registration.
• ContentAi: AI text detection web app specialized in detecting ChatGPT-generated content.
• QuillBot: AI-based paraphrasing tool that also includes an AI text detector.

Such software solutions usually search entered texts automatically for the linguistic patterns of machine texts mentioned above. They can therefore complement or replace manual text analysis well.

Digital watermarks in AI texts

Some providers add digital watermarks to the texts generated by their AI systems. These are special codes in the text that are not visible to humans and can only be read by appropriate algorithms.

For example, the author can prove that it is an AI-generated text. However, only a few providers like Anthropic with Claude use such watermarks so far. Without disclosure of the providers, they also remain ineffective.

Metadata analysis

Metadata is additional information about a text document that can provide clues about the creator. For online texts, metadata such as author, creation date, or software tools can reveal whether AI was involved.

For locally stored text files, the corresponding information can be found after a right-click under Properties. However, the metadata here is often scarce, so that an AI authorship is not clear from it.

Disclosure by AI provider

Reputable providers of AI text generators such as Anthropic and Mindversgeben usually transparent when a text was generated by machine. However, this cannot be verified, of course. In addition, many users use AI tools without disclosing this.

A disclosure by the author should therefore ideally be validated by one of the above methods. Relying solely on the honesty of the author is not a reliable detection method for AI texts.

Conclusion: Combination of methods recommended

In conclusion, none of the methods mentioned above can by itself reliably identify whether a text originates from a human or an AI. The most reliable method is a combination of several methods:

• Text analysis: Do linguistic features match typical AI patterns?
• AI detector: What does the software analysis tell us about the origin of the texture?
• Metadata: Does the metadata contain evidence of AI use?
• Disclosure: Does the originator disclose having used AI?

The more of these criteria point to an AI text, the more likely it is actually a machine text. Skepticism is advisable if the author does not provide transparency.

As AI text generators become more widespread, machine content recognition is becoming increasingly important. Combining linguistic analysis with software-based AI detectors, the authorship of texts can be determined quite reliably. In this way, every individual can contribute to more transparency in AI text production.

‍Use Mindverse for even more transparency!

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Did you know that Mindverse not only offers excellent AI-driven text generators, but also has a powerful plagiarism checking tool integrated? This helps you ensure the authenticity of texts. In addition, we have refined our models specifically for the German language to provide you with accurate and culture-specific results.
Whether you want to create content or check the authenticity of texts - with Mindverse you are always on the safe side.

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