(19 Feb 2025) The summer of 2023 was not a good time for AI detectors.
OpenAI famously recalled its AI detector, saying it wasn’t effective. A study by the Washington Post found serious gaps in the efficacy of AI detection systems, and a similar study by academic researchers found similar issues.
Things weren’t looking significantly better in the summer of 2024. Then, a pair of studies found that AI detection was not working consistently and, to make matters worse, humans were not much better than the bots.
However, in more recent months, the headlines have been getting somewhat brighter. A recent article by David Gewirtz at ZDNet found that three AI detectors were correct in every test he performed. An earlier examination by Chandra Steele at PC Mag had similar results.
This is a sentiment that Anna Mills, a long-time critic of AI detectors, recently echoed on her LinkedIn. After reviewing more recent literature, she’s decided that such detectors have a place in the process.
So, are AI detection tools getting better? If so, how much can we rely on them? The answers are complicated.
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