ChatGPT creator OpenAI today released an AI text classifier that can help you determine whether the text you’re reading was written by an AI or a human.
But there is a but.
OpenAI said it “has not yet thoroughly evaluated the effectiveness of classifiers at detecting content written in collaboration with human authors.”
why we care. There are already various AI content detectors. If these tools can recognize AI-generated text reasonably effectively, it’s safe to assume that search engines can. Ponder: Google’s useful content system.
Also, if you’re publishing content, it’s wise to run through any submissions from your agency or freelance writers through these tools. We’re entering a new era – you don’t want to post anything that could get your site flagged for posting auto-generated content, which is against Google’s guidelines. We’ve started using these tools for all contributions on Search Engine Land.
What is an AI Text Classifier? OpenAI calls its new tool a “fine-tuned GPT model that predicts the likelihood of an AI generating a piece of text from various sources, such as ChatGPT.”
It has some limitations – most notably that the results may not be accurate. OpenAI trained the tool primarily on content written in English by adults, so false positives are likely. Plus, as OpenAI points out, it’s easy to edit AI-generated text to pass as human-generated text. As stated in its FAQ section:
- “The results may be helpful but should not be the only evidence when deciding whether a document was generated by AI. The model was trained on human-written text from a variety of sources, which may not be representative of all types of humans Write the text.”
The result of the classifier. After pasting the text into the tool (Open AI says you need at least 1,000 characters, and about 150-250 words), an AI text classifier will evaluate whether the text was generated using AI. You will see one of five tabs:
- Not too possible.
- Not too possible.
- Not sure if it is.
- Maybe.
- possible.
Here’s what I get when I paste the text of this (human-written, I swear) article you’re reading:
Thankfully, the classifier deemed the article “unlikely” to be AI-generated.
Try the tool out for yourself. OpenAI’s AI text classifier. free.
More reach. The news was first reported by Axios. You can see more coverage on Techmeme.
