College students across the United States are using AI “humanizer” tools to avoid false accusations of cheating, even when they never used artificial intelligence to write their assignments. Tyler Kingkade reports for NBC News.
The emergence of AI detectors on campuses has created an escalating conflict. Professors run student papers through programs like Turnitin and GPTZero to check for AI-generated content, but the detectors have been criticized as unreliable and prone to flagging non-native English speakers. Several students have filed lawsuits over emotional distress and punishments from false accusations.
Humanizer tools, which cost around $20 monthly or are free, scan essays and suggest text alterations to avoid AI detection. Some students use them to mask actual cheating, while others simply want protection from false positives. In response, detection companies have upgraded their software to catch humanized text.
“Students now are trying to prove that they’re human, even though they might have never touched AI ever,” says Erin Ramirez, an associate professor at California State University, Monterey Bay.
The stress has driven some students to extreme measures. Graduate student Aldan Creo deliberately “dumbs down” his work with misspellings to avoid flags. Brittany Carr left Liberty University after failing grades from false accusations, despite providing revision history and handwritten notes.
Detection companies emphasize their tools should never be the sole basis for cheating accusations and should instead prompt conversations with students. However, with instructors handling hundreds of students, such individual attention creates significant uncompensated labor. As many as 5 million students have used self-surveillance tools like Grammarly’s Authorship feature to document their writing process.
