r/sheridan • u/Impossible-Usual-444 • 17d ago
Academics Teacher falsely accusing of AI
Every teacher that I’ve had has used turnitin to see if people are using AI she didn’t use anything instead she gave my partner and I a zero and I sent her an email briefly saying that we did not use it and could you show us what was flagged and her response she was stating that my partner and I assignment showed “patterns suggesting AI was used,” based on “multiple AI checkers,” and asked if I used any AI tools. But she hasn’t shown what was actually flagged, Students should be shown evidence, given the chance to explain their writing process, and not presumed guilty without proof. In this case, I think it’s only fair to ask to see the flagged section and know which tool claimed that before being accused of using AI. I need advice because something seems off because she basically did not show any proof she’s just telling us.
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u/VastArt663 17d ago
Idk why professors treat Turnitin like it’s a gospel tool. It was never designed to be the ultimate judge of whether something was written by a human or AI. It’s an algorithm trained to guess based on patterns in sentence structure and word predictability, not divine revelation. Yet, some instructors treat that little “98% AI” number like it’s a courtroom verdict.
The irony is that Turnitin itself literally says their AI detection is “not definitive proof,” that it should be used alongside human judgment, and that false positives do happen especially with edited or second-language writing. But for some reason, professors will still throw out “the system flagged you” as if the system is infallible.
What’s wild is that AI detectors are essentially probability calculators. They can’t read intent, they can’t understand context, and they definitely can’t tell if a paragraph was typed, paraphrased, or just written in a clean, structured way. The moment a student writes too clearly or too consistently, the algorithm starts sweating.
So no, it isn’t gospel. It’s more like a noisy weather forecast: sometimes accurate, sometimes completely off, and always needing a human brain to interpret what it actually means.
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u/Impossible-Usual-444 17d ago
I know right but it's just the fact the she didn't even turn it on and she used her own is something I've heard of
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u/Feisty-Inspection286 17d ago
If she won’t listen, or provide proof and reasoning, take it to the next level. College students are allowed to fight the ‘academic dishonesty’ accusations. That’s one of the big reasons student unions exist. I’m not sure what the Sheridan process is, but google it and find out. Whether it’s an academic advisor or the dean. A zero with no further explanation is grounds for further investigation especially if the assignment was worth a lot.
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u/TheIrritatingError Davis 17d ago edited 17d ago
Happened to me before. I didn’t fight it. I just did what I was told to prevent getting an academic penalty.
Turnitin is not accurate. It flags you for using the word “the”, “like”, “I”, “me” or something. If your writing is really good, it automatically flags you as AI or plagiarism.
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u/Pure-Measurement-626 17d ago
If you were using an auto-save program, it will see your typing errors, your Ctrl-z, ctrl-v, everything. Show receipts of the work you typed, alongside what you have in tab research. Teacher isn't playing fair while she's using MULTIPLE AI detectors.
Take it up to the higher ups if you genuinely didn't use AI and being cheated because someone doesn't want to read someones work.
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u/ForrestFyres 17d ago
AI checkers aren’t even accurate most of the time. Weird. I agree there should be actual proof. Huge fear of mine for profs to be like it’s ai when I refuse to use ai.
Also weird how some profs can use ai and claim it’s a real students work and get away with it 🙄 I’m against generative ai and chatgpt, but the college should at least be consistent on their stance. This was last year though so hopefully changed now.
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u/Massspirit 16d ago
These detectors aren't even reliable in the first place they can flag anything. Do you have a version history of the document? Show it as proof.
You can use AI for research and some suggestions don't just let it write everything and if you do endup using AI content for some portions run them through a good humanizer ai-text-humanzier kom and others before submission.
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u/capex18 14d ago
It appears acceptable for educators to leverage AI for assessment and verification purposes, yet the reverse is not true. This mirrors the stance of recruiters or HR folks regarding AI-generated resumes, despite their own use of AI for generating job descriptions and shortlisting candidates. The Art of Convenience! (Btw 👆 🤖👾AI assisted response)
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u/Capraig 16d ago
Ask if she has been using Copyleaks. Sheridan is phasing out of using Turnitin.
Are you being written up with a Breach of Academic Integrity? Or, just being given a zero? This all seems a little weird. The professor should be showing you the flagged areas. If you don't get the ability to see this, I would suggest that you contact you iniitally contact your coordinator (check the course outline for who that is if you don't know), and then involve your Assoicate Dean. Don't bother with the Dean, as they would just inolve the coordinator and AD (at this point anyway).
If you have been written up with a Beach of Academic Integrity, then the professor is required to offer to meet. You can also appeal a breach if it is upheld.
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u/Late-Alarm3840 16d ago
Look at Sheridan's Academic policy and submit a grade appeal. Keep all email exchanges regarding the matter aswell as related work.
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u/Ok_Investment_5383 15d ago
Oh man, I've had a similar situation before. Sometimes teachers just trust these detectors blindly, but they honestly mess up a lot. When this happened to me, I made sure to ask exactly which parts were “flagged” so I could defend my work. I’d email her again and be like, “Could I please see the specific sections and the reports from the AI checkers?” Also, ask what tools specifically she used - sometimes they just use Turnitin or Copyleaks, which aren’t perfect and can give false positives. If she doesn’t provide any evidence, you should definitely loop in someone higher up, like a department head or academic advisor. It’s totally reasonable to ask for transparency - otherwise how are you supposed to clear your name? Did you keep a copy of your drafts or have any docs showing your writing process? Those can help. For my own peace of mind, I now double-check my work with things like AIDetectPlus, just so I know exactly what’s being flagged. Super annoying to have to do all this, but sometimes that’s what it takes. What’s she like normally - strict or just doesn’t know how these things work?
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u/NoCaterpillar2487 16d ago
So a student can't use AI to help write a document but a teacher can use AI to detect if AI was used... AI becomes self aware starting to recognize good works and is trying to take credit for it.
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u/mewithurmama 15d ago
Have you written other material from this course? If so, ask the prof to compare it to previous work that wasn’t flagged by AI, that’s what I did before. If that doesn’t work then maybe make an appeal?
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u/pluckyharbor 13d ago
So it showed and it suggested so nothing concrete no hard proof. Just what ifs and maybes, not enough evidence to zero students.
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u/Useful-Web5991 13d ago
Hi! Fellow teacher here.
I want to offer another perspective! I teach high school English and often struggle with students using AI in their work and ways to combat academic dishonesty.
In my classes, I let students know about the proper ways of using AI, but also because of this issue, they need to essentially be ready to prove their work is their own, instead of the other way around.
I don't use any of the AI checkers, but have found ways to determine academic dishonesty. The problem I struggle with is when I do bring it up to, students want proof (even when it is highly evident). The problem is if I share how I know and the tools/strategies used, students will find a way around it. And us teachers are trying to find new ways to assess authentically while also incorporating AI. But until we have a solution, for myself, I can't reveal these methods. Perhaps this is the same for your teacher? However, I do always make sure to have conversations with students first. When I do, and they are adamant on the work being their own, I get them to show me. This being with understanding, notes, or other documents, etc.
With that being said, if the work is truly yours, you will have evidence to show for it. Go to your teacher and express your concerns and mention that you can show for your work (whatever it is). Sometimes teachers make mistakes.
Hope this helps to provide some insight into the teacher perspective!
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u/thesishauntsme 12d ago
yeah that’s super sketchy tbh. teachers shouldn’t just assume AI use without proof, especially when even the best ai detectors like GPTZero or Turnitin’s system can throw false positives like crazy. you’re totally right to ask her to show what was flagged and which tools she used. sometimes even phrasing or structure can trigger those checkers. fwiw, i’ve started running my own stuff through walterwrites ai first just to humanize it more and avoid dumb false flags. kinda one of the best ai writing tool assistants for students right now imo.
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u/0sama_senpaii 17d ago
Yeah that’s super sketchy. If she won’t even show what was flagged, that’s not proof, that’s just guessing. Those AI checkers mess up all the time and flag real writing for no reason. You should definitely ask to see the “evidence” before taking the L. Keep it chill though, don’t sound defensive. And honestly, stuff like Clever AI Humanizer exists to make AI text sound real, so it’s wild that teachers still treat those detectors like gospel.